Bluesky Dreams
by BeckoningCat
Summary: The time has finally come for Kyouko to take on a dreaded love role in a drama. At the same time, Lory Takarada has an exciting new assignment for the three LoveMe girls, one they may actually enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 **Author's Note:**

 _ **Skip Beat!**_ **and its characters belong to the creator Nakamura Yoshiki.** _**Skip Beat!**_ **is serialised in 'Hana to Yume' magazine (Hakusensha) and licensed in English by 'Shojo Beat' (VIZ Media, LLC —** **manga/print/skip-beat** **).**

 **The work below is written in the spirit of fan appreciation.  
** **UK English has been used throughout. The story was started after chapter 228 was released.  
** **This is my first fan fiction. Let me know what you think in the comments.**

* * *

"Good morning, Tsuruga-san. Have you been offered a role in 'Aozora no Yume' as well?"

The tall actor returned Kyouko's smile. "Yes. I got the call via Yashiro-san last night. Are you here for the meeting too?"

"Yes, that's right."

They stood outside a meeting room at TBM, both a little early for the meeting as per usual.

"Which role have you been offered?" asked Kyouko. "Ooshima Kazufumi, the love interest?"

"Yep. How about you?"

"Takamatsu Tomoe."

"That's the main character's little sister, isn't it?"

Kyouko smiled up at her sempai. "Yes. I'm really excited to be offered a role like this. From the scripts for the first three episodes, it seems the role isn't a bully role at all. Finally, I get to play a sweet girl."

Tsuruga-san smiled one of his true smiles. "Congratulations for being offered another role in a drama. It's good timing with Box-R wrapping up soon. I can't wait to see what you do with this new role."

Kyouko grinned. "Thank you, Tsuruga-sempai. By the way," she said, "do you know what this meeting is about? From what I read of the script last night, my role seems quite simple. I don't know why I need to be at a special meeting like this."

Tsuruga-san shook his head. "I'm in the dark, too. I would have expected the actress playing the main character to be here, but Yashiro-san said the meeting would be between me, one other actor, and the director. Since you're here, you must be that other actor."

Yashiro-san walked down the hallway towards them. Beside him walked a man in his mid-thirties with collar-length hair and who was wearing a blue tartan riding coat over a white t-shirt. He looked very fashionable and dapper to Kyouko, although not quite as much as the man standing beside her.

Yashiro-san introduced them all. "Mifune-kantoku, this is my charge Tsuruga Ren and the actress Kyouko. Ren, Kyouko-chan, this is Mifune Ryou, the director of 'Aozora no Yume'."

The three recently introduced people bowed and each said 'yoroshiku onegaishimasu'.

"Shall we go in?" said the director as he stepped into the meeting room. They all took seats around a meeting table, and the director laced his fingers together on top of a bundle of papers he had brought with him. "I'm sure you are both wondering why I've asked you here to meet with me away from anyone else involved in the project. But before I can say anything, I need to ask you to sign these non-disclosure documents." He pushed a piece of paper to each of them, Yashiro-san included. "The reason I want you to sign these is because I need to discuss something with you that will be kept secret for as long as possible during the filming. Because neither of you have accepted the offered parts yet or signed any contracts, our legal team want me to make sure I'm as careful as can be. I'm sure you understand."

Tsuruga-san watched as Yashiro-san picked up his copy and read it all the way through, so Kyouko also waited.

"It looks fine to me," Yashiro-san finally said. "It's a standard NDA. So long as both of you keep quiet about what we discuss here even if you don't take the roles, then there will be no problem."

Tsuruga-san picked up an offered pen and signed his NDA, so Kyouko also signed hers and added a stamp of her hanko (personal seal).

The director collected all three forms and put them in a tidy pile in front of him again. "Thank you very much for that." He smiled. "The lawyers will be pleased, I'm sure. Now, the reason I've asked you to meet me today is because there is more you need to know about the offered roles and their story lines before you can make an informed decision whether to accept. You see, I've always planned to 'pull a fast one' on an audience, so to speak. That's to say, I want to do a character role switcheroo."

"A switcheroo?" asked Tsuruga-san.

"Yes. Now, this might concern your manager here a little because basically the switch will mean that by the end of the show your character won't be the second most important after all."

Tsuruga-san and Yashiro-san gave each other a quick look.

"What do you mean?" asked Yashiro-san.

"I mean," said the director, "that publicising Ooshima Kazufumi as the lead character's romance interest is a fake-out. A fake-out that I'm hoping the audience won't question with an actor like Tsuruga Ren in the role."

Kyouko's stomach dropped slightly with a sense of foreboding. "Excuse me, Director, but what does that have to do with me?"

"Ah, yes," the Director smiled, "the end-game pairing for Ooshima Kazufumi will be Takamatsu Tomoe instead."

Kyouko froze.

"And Takamatsu Rina, the main character? She won't have a romance story after all?" asked Tsuruga-san.

"Not so much. She'll fall in love with someone else by the end of the show, but I want the story to focus more on her other relationships and her personal growth. You know, a more natural, healthy sort of focus."

Suddenly, Kyouko wished she was a more famous, mature actress so she could have been cast in the main role. She shook off the thought and concentrated on the rest of the conversation.

"Does Naomi-san, the actress already announced to play the role, know this?" asked Tsuruga-san.

"She does not. And we'll keep it from her for as long as possible, just like anyone else."

"Why?" asked Kyouko when she found her voice. "Why does it need to be so secret?"

"The fewer people know, the less likely it is that someone will accidentally give something away. One of the themes I want to explore in the drama is just because you like a person, doesn't mean they'll like you back. They might be interested in someone else. Dramas are often too predictable in their love pairings. I want the audience to be as shocked as Rina, so they sympathise with her journey more."

Tsuruga-san sat back in his chair. "What about the lag between filming and screening? Surely the cast and crew will see the switch long before you want the secret out publicly."

The director took a deep breath. "That's one of the main reasons that I wanted to discuss this with you before you signed anything. My plans involve the two actors, hopefully the two of you, filming additional scenes with a skeleton film crew late in the evenings and early in the mornings while the rest of the cast and crew aren't there. It would mean some very long days."

Kyouko thought back to the weeks when she had been playing both Natsu and Setsuka Heel at the same time. She could handle the long days. It wasn't that which had her heart pounding in fear and a sweat breaking out on her brow! Tsuruga-san's on-screen love interest? Surely this was a dream. Or rather, a nightmare! She took a calming breath and used all her acting ability to keep her face calm.

"Are you quite sure I'm a good choice to play Tsuruga-san's onscreen love interest, Director?"

Out the corner of her eye she saw Tsuruga-san give her a sharp look and felt brief annoyance at herself for obviously saying something unprofessional again, but she kept her eyes on the director.

He chuckled. "Your beautiful angel in Fuwa Shou's PV caught my attention, and your glamorous and intense Kitagawa Natsu made me sure you could do this. And, actually, your age and newcomer status will also help me play this trick. The audience also won't expect you to be Tsuruga-san's love interest, just like you yourself have reservations."

Kyouko felt a touch on the back of her hands, which were clasped on the tabletop. Tsuruga-san had reached over to touch her. Against her will, her eyes were drawn to meet his gaze.

"I believe you could do this if you try," he said, and somehow his certainty took up residence in a corner of her mind and tried its best to shout over all her swirling doubts.

"There's no need for either of you to make a decision today," said the director. "Look over the script again, talk to your managers or Takarada Lory-san; he knows the details too."

 _I bet he does,_ thought Kyouko. _This sounds a lot like something he'd be involved in._

"Then tell me your decision within the next couple of days," continued the director. "All I ask is that you abide by the NDA and speak only in general terms if you speak to anyone other than those of us in the room or those I've mentioned."

"Hai," said both Tsuruga-san and Kyouko.

"Right, before I let you go, I'll give you a few more details and answer any questions you have."

* * *

An hour later, Ren and Yashiro-san were driving to the set of a photo shoot. Ren tried to keep his attention 100% on the road, but it was difficult with Yashiro-san looming in his peripheral vision making _that_ face.

"Just say what you want to say, Yashiro-san. Your face is weird and would scare small children."

"How rude, Ren. There are no small children here, so what does it matter?"

"Just spit it out."

Yashiro trembled, clutched his hands into fists, and then let out a squee. "You and Kyouko-chan! On TV! Together!"

"We've been on TV together before, remember? _Dark Moon_?"

"Yes, but this time she'll be your _girlfriend_. You'll get to _kiss her_. I'm so happy for you, Ren!"

Ren sighed. "It's not as if kisses in front of the camera and a camera crew are even remotely romantic, Yashiro-san. In fact, they're just work."

"Whatever. She may need to practice first, Ren. _Practice_." He winked.

"She may not even take the role, you know. She probably finds the idea abhorrent. So don't get your hopes up just yet."

* * *

At that moment at the TBM building, Kyouko stood behind a concrete pillar in the parking garage near the bike racks with her phone pressed tightly against her ear.

 _-Moshi-moshi_ ,- said a voice on the other end of the line.

"Mouko-saaaaaaan! What do I doooooooo?" Kyouko cried into the phone immediately.

 _-Tch, what happened this time?-_ asked Kanae-san.

"I've been offered a role but I don't know whether I should take it."

 _-Offered another role without needing to audition? Mou, why you?_ Dark Moon _was sure good for your career, wasn't it?-_

 _"_ This time they don't want me to play a bully or an evil girl. Actually, she seems really sweet."

 _-Isn't that just what you've been waiting for? Why are you hesitating?-_

"Because, Mouko-san, it's a l-l-love role!" Kyouko sniffed, trying to keep from bursting into tears.

 _-Mou! It's just acting, Kyouko. They aren't asking you to actually fall in love with whoever will play your love interest.-_

Kyouko paled at her friend's words. Kanae-san had unknowingly hit near the target with that comment. Kyouko couldn't tell Kanae-san who would be playing her love interest because of the NDA. Besides, she hadn't yet told her friend that she'd fallen in love with Tsuruga-san, so she couldn't say that the reason she was panicking so much was because she was afraid of letting him know about her feelings by accident during filming.

"But the role involves _kissing_ scenes, Mouko-san." More than just that: the director had even hinted there might be a 'these characters will be having sex during the add break' scene. Which, Kyouko supposed, probably wasn't all that much different from a normal kissing scene, but even so.

 _-Who will play your love interest? Is it someone you know?-_

 _"_ Sorry, Mouko-san, but I can't say. I signed an NDA."

 _-OK, I won't hold that one against you.-_

"What do I do?"

 _-Hm, I do understand why you're nervous. But I also think this could be a good opportunity for you to avoid being typecast. Who knows when you'll next be offered a non-bully role?-_ There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line. - _I know you can't say who, but if you do know the actor or actress playing your love interest and you're comfortable talking to them, why not discuss it with them? If they seem professional about it, you may find that you can feel comfortable about working with them. If they seem like a playboy actor looking forward to fooling around in front of the camera then forget about it and wait for the next opportunity.-_

 _"_ Thanks, Mouko-san. You give such good advice. I'm so glad you're my best friend!"

 _-Mou! Whatever. I need to go now: my break's almost over.-_

"OK. Thank you so much! Bye!"

* * *

Shortly after he got home that evening, Ren was startled by the buzzer ringing. He put down the glass of Scotch he'd just poured himself and walked over to the control panel. "Yes?" he asked. He never introduced himself to people ringing his apartment's call button: if they didn't already know who he was, they didn't need to know.

 _-Tsuruga-san? It's me, Mogami.-_

He smiled. "Good evening, Mogami-san."

 _-May I come up? If you're free, that is. I want to talk about today's meeting.-_

 _"_ Sure, come on up." He pressed the button that would unlock the apartment building's door for her. While she rode the elevator up to his floor, he poured the Scotch back into the bottle. He would probably need to drive her home, and he always kept Japan's zero alcohol tolerance policy in mind: if he was ever caught with alcohol in his system while driving, not only would his identity be revealed by investigating law enforcement, but he would be deported back to the US. It wasn't something he ever took lightly.

A few minutes later, the apartment doorbell rang and he let Kyouko-chan in, led her to the living room, and then served her a coffee.

"So, what would you like to discuss?" he asked as he nursed his own cup of coffee.

She smoothed her skirt over her knees. Even sitting at his coffee table she sat in perfect seiza worthy of a ryoukan okami or even a geisha. She ruined the effect slightly by reaching forward and fiddling with the handle of her coffee cup.

"Well, ah, you see Tsuruga-san, today I was wondering if I should take the role of Takamatsu Tomoe, and I called Mouko-san for advice, and she said I should talk to whoever will be playing my love interest in the drama before I make a decision, and actually the director also said I could talk to you, and so I'm here. I'm very sorry to bother you with such a thing."

"What exactly do you want to talk about regarding the role?"

Kyouko-chan blinked. "Ah, I didn't think that far ahead." She blushed and chuckled. "To tell you the truth, I just charged over here single-mindedly. I'm sorry I'm so impetuous."

Ren rubbed a hand over his mouth and jaw as he tried to decide how to approach the topic.

"Mogami-san, I'll spare you the embarrassment of explaining your thoughts. You're unsure about playing a love role, right?"

Kyouko-chan's blush deepened and she nodded.

"I know enough about your history to know why you're nervous. You're not in the LoveMe section for nothing."

Kyouko-chan seemed briefly frozen, but then she sighed. "It's impossible, isn't it? How would I convey that emotion?"

"I don't think it's impossible." Ren took another long drink of his coffee as he thought of a way to talk her into trying the role for her own good (and his own selfish reasons, too, he had to admit).

"Remember what you said to me when I was sick?" he said.

She blinked. "Which thing? That you're surprisingly childlike at times?"

"No! Not tha—"

He stopped when he saw the mischievous smile playing at the corner of her lips, the ghost of Setsuka Heel wanting to come out and play. _Damn it! She's teasing me! Why am I so damned happy about that? Am I an 'M' after all?_

"I meant how you said you wanted to act to find 'Mogami Kyouko'. Do you remember that?"

"Of course!" she cried balling her hands into fists. "It's the rule by which I live my life!"

Ren fought the grin that wanted to burst out all over his face. "I understand that feeling well. The reason why acting can help with that is because we can 'try on' different personalities and situations to see how they fit, rather like trying on clothes."

Kyouko nodded while her intense gaze held him captive. "Yes, I've often had that thought."

"So isn't this an opportunity to 'try on' a love that's different from what you felt for— from what you had in the past? One that, from what the script seemed to show, won't resemble anything you've experienced before? And you wouldn't run the risk of being hurt because it wouldn't be real." _However much that hurts me to say it,_ he thought. "Wouldn't that be a valuable learning experience both to grow as an actor and to learn more about yourself?"

"But it wouldn't be entirely different, would it? L-love is still love."

"Is it?"

She looked at him expectantly. "Well, is it?"

Ren, much to his chagrin, flushed slightly. He scratched the back of his neck and smiled at her. "I don't know either. I know you like to suggest that I'm a playboy ..."

"... because you are one ..." she muttered.

Ren sighed, then pretended he didn't hear her comment. "... But I don't have as much experience as you think I do. I think this role would be as much of a learning experience for me as for you. That's why I want to accept it."

She sat quiet for a moment looking at her clasped hands. "Even if you have to play it opposite me?"

 _Her and her damned lack of self-confidence. I'm going to wring Fuwa's neck one day._

He gave her a blank, uncomprehending look and held it until she'd glanced up and seen it. "Why would acting opposite you be a problem? We've acted together before."

"Yes, but not like this."

Ren looked away and cleared his throat. "Disturbingly, I don't think the Heel siblings were that far off, actually, and we performed that act together well."

He looked at her out the corner of his eye and saw that she had gone bright red. A less than pure part of his mind prompted him to push her just a little farther.

"You know, considering _that_ night ..."

"Yesyesyes, Igetit!" she cried as she threw up her hands as if to ward off his words.

Obviously she still wasn't ready to talk about that event.

"OK, I'm sorry for bringing it up. It just seemed relevant."

She stared at the tabletop, her arms crossed and her brow furrowed. He watched as she thought so furiously that he was surprised smoke didn't come out of her ears. Then she smiled and nodded to herself.

"Have you made a decision?"

"Not just yet," she said as she met his gaze, "but you have equipped me with the right weapons for this battle, Sir Quartermaster. Thank you very much." She bowed to him from her seated position.

 _Sir Quartermaster? Where exactly had her imagination gone this time? The trenches of World War I? Ah, no, probably Camelot or something._

"Glad I could help. Feel free to call me or drop by if you need any more advice, whether or not you take the role."

"I will. Thank you."

He was about to offer her a ride home, but he noticed that she was still chewing her lower lip slightly. "Is there something else that's bothering you?"

"Well, ah, it's just ..." she took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders further. "Are _you_ OK with this role? I mean, not the role itself. Obviously you can play it, but I mean with me? I mean, yes, we have experience acting together, but am I the right _look_ for the role? I don't want to tarnish your image by not being up to the standard your fans would expect of your onscreen love interest."

Ren couldn't hold in his sigh. He didn't know how to help her with this particular problem. She was so stubborn about her belief in her supposed plainness.

"I don't see a problem, but somehow I think if I try to convince you of that you'll just accuse me of being a 'playboy' or a 'conman' again. So I'll just say this: Go speak with Jelly Woods about your concerns. She's a woman, and she's a professional. She works with models and actresses all the time. You can trust her opinion. Believe me: Ms. Woods is more than capable of brutal honesty. She isn't the kind to say only what she thinks others want to hear."

Kyouko-chan's eyes widened. "I wouldn't want to bother her. She's so busy ..."

"It's fine," said Ren. "Last time I saw her she was asking about you. She said she wanted to catch up with you sometime. So give her a call."

Kyouko-chan nodded vigorously. "I will."

"All right, then. Shall I give you a ride home? Your landlords must be wondering where you are."

* * *

 **Next time: President Takarada has a new assignment for the LoveMe girls.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 **Author's Note:**

 _ **Skip Beat!**_ **and its characters belong to the creator Nakamura Yoshiki.** _**Skip Beat!**_ **is serialised in 'Hana to Yume' magazine (Hakusensha) and licensed in English by 'Shojo Beat' (VIZ Media, LLC).**

 **The work below is written in the spirit of fan appreciation.  
** **UK English has been used throughout.**

* * *

Kyouko sat in the LoveMe Section staring at the cellphone in her hand, trying to gather the courage to make the call. Two days had passed since her meeting with Mifune-kantoku, and in that time she'd asked Sawara-san to accept the role of Takamatsu Tomoe on her behalf. Unfortunately, whoever was employed as the lawyer for 'Aozora no Yume' was very thorough: 'Mogami's mother said LME can do whatever we want with her career' hadn't gone over well, and so Kyouko had been told to arrange a meeting between Mifune-kantoku and her mother before she could be signed to the project.

Which was why Kyouko now sat staring at her phone as if it was a viper.

While many of the misunderstandings between herself and her mother had been cleared up recently, Kyouko still wasn't all that comfortable just _calling_ her mother and asking for a favour. A lifetime of habits couldn't be broken in just a few weeks.

Kyouko looked at the clock. If she didn't call her mother soon, lunchtime would be over and she would have to wait until after 5 pm to call her. "OK! I have to do it now!"

She did her best to ignore the writhing of her guts as she pressed the 'call' button.

The call connected after two rings. - _Moshi moshi, Mogami desu,-_ said Kyouko's mother.

"Ah, Mother, hi, it's me."

There was a brief pause. - _Ah, Kyouko. Is there a problem?_ -

"Well, actually, I need to ask a favour ..."

Kyouko quickly outlined the situation for her mother, stuttering over her words just a little.

- _I understand. I applaud that lawyer's thorough work. Maybe I should consider a more permanent solution to this issue, but for now I will meet with this director so you can proceed with this project. If this is your chosen career, then I want you to pursue it diligently.-_

Kyouko sighed in relief. "Thank you, Mother. Thank you very much."

- _I will be free to attend a meeting at the following times ...-_

Several minutes later, Kyouko said goodbye to her mother and hung up the phone. She had various potential meeting times pencilled into her diary, and she'd promised to call her mother again when she had confirmed a meeting time with the director. Her heart still hammered in her chest, but all in all the call had gone well.

She stood, diary in hand, intending to go see Sawara-san again and tell him the times her mother would be free, but was distracted by the arrival of two pink-clad figures. "Mouko-saaaaan!" she cried, flinging herself at her best friend, only to be stopped by a hand to the forehead. "And Amamiya-san, too," she said, ignoring the undignified halt of her advance. "I didn't think either of you had LoveMe work today."

"We both received calls this morning asking us to come in today," said Amamiya-san.

"Oh," said Kyouko. "Somehow, that makes me nervous." She opened the door to the hallway and peered out. A black-clad figure stood in the hallway holding a potted plant in front of his face like a 2-year-old trying to hide. The handsome man in the butler outfit standing by his shoulder gave away the identity of the hiding person. "Takarada-shachou, would you like to come in?" asked Kyouko. "I'll make you a cup of tea."

"Mogami-kun, you spoiled my big entrance," pouted the company president.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I have an errand to run, so I'd like to receive my new LoveMe assignment as soon as possible." She bowed to her employer, trying her best to compensate for her rudeness.

"No fun, Mogami-kun, no fun."

Lory Takarada handed the potted plant to his executive assistant, finally giving Kyouko an unhindered look at his costume of the day. He was wearing a stereotypical yankee biker outfit — black jeans and black leather jacket, complete with ridiculous protruding pompadour and a sticky plaster across his nose as if covering a wound but likely just for show. "Yo, ojou-chan-tachi!" he said as he entered the room.

Kanae-san and Amamiya-san gave the eccentric tycoon identical suspicious looks. Kyouko stepped over to their tea-making corner and put a pot of green tea on to steep. She then took five teacups to the table. She placed cups for herself, Kanae-san, Amamiya-san, and Takarada-shachou, and then placed another one at the place beside the President.

"Please, have a cup as well," she said to the EA who she thought of as 'Sebastian'.

"Mogami-sama, usually I make the tea," said the EA in a neutral tone. He stayed standing at attention in the corner.

"It must be tiring being on your feet all day. Please take a momentary break."

Takarada-shachou gave the EA a nod, and he took a seat beside his employer.

Kyouko poured tea for everyone. The president grinned at her as she did so.

"Is there a problem, Takarada-shachou?"

He chuckled. "I'm just amused at how thoroughly you've taken charge of the situation, like this is a tea house and you're the okami." His eyes glinted. "You're going to make a fine wife for a lucky man, one day."

"Shachou!" she shrieked, and sloshed tea on the tabletop.

Both Kanae-san and Amamiya-san chortled.

"I've often thought that Kyouko is the quintessential _Yamato Nadeshiko,_ " said Kanae-san.

"Mouko-saaaaan! Don't say things like that!" cried Kyouko as she wiped the spilled tea with a cloth. "Besides, young men these days aren't interested in traditional girls, so who'd want to marry me anyway?"

"Oh, I can think of a few young men who prefer the demure type," said the president. He took a sip from his cup. "This is very nice tea, Mogami-kun."

Kyouko tried to control her extreme blush as she took her seat.

"As I'm sure you've guessed, ladies, I have another long-term LoveMe assignment for you now that the Something Funny," he pointed at Amamiya-san, "Something Dirty," he pointed at Kanae-san, "and the Something Dangerous," he pointed at Kyouko, "are all over."

Amamiya-san groaned and hid her face, perhaps remembering something embarrassing she had to do on the comedy show she had been sent to.

"What is it this time?" asked Kanae-san.

"I task you ladies to become acquainted with ..." Takarada-shachou stood and placed his foot on his chair, posing like a villain in an 80s anime, "the beautiful love of online fan communities."

The three girls looked at him in bewilderment.

"You mean, those forums where creepy otaku hang out online talking about 2D characters?" asked Kanae-san.

"No," said the president, "although there is a certain type of beauty in their fervour, too." He sat down in his seat and adjusted his leather jacket. "I mean the places online where people congregate to talk about their favourite TV shows, movies, and celebrities. You young ladies are making your way into an entertainment world that is different from the one that previous generations of actors had to navigate. Your future will always be partially lived online amongst your fans. You can either ignore the fact and have your online fans run away on you and make you into what they want you to be, or you can learn to collaborate with them in shaping your future."

"That's rather daunting, Shachou," said Kyouko. "I don't have a computer at home, so I don't really have any experience with that side of the internet. I only have my phone, and it's not a smartphone."

"Ah! Well done, Mogami-kun, for bringing up that point. For this assignment, you three girls will be issued with new company smartphones and data plans."

"Me, too?" asked Amamiya-san.

"Yes, I asked your boss about upgrading your phone, so you too."

"Our assignment is to, what, familiarise ourselves with the internet?" asked Kanae-san.

"As if I'd give you such a waffly, easy to fake assignment, Kotonami-kun. I want each of you to create a platform online from which you can interact with fans. But! I don't want you to create a personal celebrity-type profile just yet. I want you to do something fun first to learn."

"I've entirely lost you, Shachou," said Kyoko. "I don't understand at all."

"I'm going to book you all in for a meeting with LME's Online Media Manager so you can get more details then. But for now, I want you to keep the following in mind: Amamiya-kun, I want you to create an interesting Twitter account, something fun that people will want to follow. Your assignment is to get 1000 followers of the account."

"Twitter ... I've heard of it," said Amamiya-san. "It's an American site, but it's quite popular here too."

"Kotonami-kun," continued the president, "I want you to create a fun Tumblr blog. You took photography at school, didn't you?"

"Ah, yes, I did."

"Then you'll find Tumblr fun. From what I've been told it's mostly about posting pictures and getting people to 'reblog' them. Your assignment is to get 1000 reblogs."

Kanae-san frowned. "I don't even know what Tumblr is, Shachou."

"Don't worry, you'll be given a crash course. Now, Mogami-kun."

"Hai," said Kyouko.

"I want you to make a fun YouTube channel."

"A YouTube channel? Takarada-shachou, that sounds really technical. I don't think I'd know how to do that."

"It's fine, Mogami-kun. You'll have an assistant to help you with the filming and uploading, so you'll only need about as much technical knowledge as Amamiya-kun and Kotonami-kun. You will need to get 1000 followers of your channel."

"Who will be helping me?"

The president grinned. "It's a surprise." He stood. "You'll be contacted later with a time to meet the Online Media Manager. For now, please brainstorm some ideas of what you want to do online. Keep in mind: you'll have to run the ideas by me first." He gave a laugh worthy of the most evil of TV villains and swept out of the room with his EA in his wake, leaving the three LoveMe girls sitting in stunned silence.

"It almost seemed like a benign assignment until that last laugh," said Amamiya-san.

"At least you two will be hiding behind online usernames," said Kyouko. "I have to make videos!"

"Mou, baka Kyouko," said Kanae-san, "you're on TV already. What does it matter?"

"But, Mouko-san, that's when I'm playing characters. I don't want to show the _real me_ in some kind of video blog thing."

Kanae-san shook her head. "He never said it had to be a video blog. You could come up with an idea that involves you acting. A web series or something like that?"

Kyouko sighed. "Somehow I think he wants me to be in a less comfortable role than that."

She slapped her hand on the tabletop. "OK, then! I have something to give to Sawara-san and then I'm free for the rest of the day. There's no point in me going to school now: I'll only get there in time for the last class. Are the two of you free this evening? How about we have some fun and brainstorm some ideas while we're at it?"

"That's a good idea," said Amamiya-san. "The LoveMe Section out on the town."

"Yes! It'll be fun! And I really want to blow off some steam. You'll come, won't you, Mouko-san?" Kyouko gave Kanae-san her best approximation of the Puppy Cain begging look.

Kanae-san sighed. "I suppose someone needs to be there to keep you two out of trouble."

"Yay!" cried Kyouko. "A girls' night with my friends! I'll be right back!"

Kyouko leapt to her feet and took off for the Talent section at top-speed, her imagination beginning to run wild with the fun she would have with her friends.

* * *

 **Next time: The LoveMe girls have a rare evening of normal teenage girl fun. Yummy food and girl talk ahoy!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 **Author's Note:**

 _ **Skip Beat!**_ **and its characters belong to the creator Nakamura Yoshiki.** _**Skip Beat!**_ **is serialised in 'Hana to Yume' magazine (Hakusensha) and licensed in English by 'Shojo Beat' (VIZ Media, LLC).**

 **The work below is written in the spirit of fan appreciation.  
** **UK English has been used throughout.**

* * *

Kyouko stood in the mall staring up at the cloud-painted ceiling as it changed from sky blue to sunset orange to twilight purple and back again. "Wow," she said.

After leaving LME the LoveMe girls had decided to go on a shopping trip to Venus Fort in Odaiba. Kyouko's eyes hadn't stopped twinkling since they stepped inside. The magical ceiling and the fake Greek columns made the whole mall look like the setting of a fairytale, and so she had decided it was her new favourite place to go shopping. She couldn't believe she hadn't gone there before in the more than two years since she had moved to Tokyo, especially with the Fuji TV building just around the corner.

"Try this one on, Kotonami-san," said Amamiya-san. She held out a deep purple burnout silk scarf.

Kanae-san tried on the scarf, looking at herself in the stall's small mirror from a few angles. She then looked at the price tag, winced, and returned the scarf to the rack.

None of them had bought anything yet since they were all a little tight for cash, but that wasn't the point.

They turned the corner into the next stretch of the mall, and Kyouko's eyes were drawn straight to the next mid-walkway stall. "French macarons!"

"Nope," said Kanae-san as she dragged Kyouko past the stall.

"Look over there!" said Amamiya-san from behind them. "I think that dress would suit you, Kyouko-san."

They both turned to see where she was pointing. Kyouko's jaw dropped.

She was pointing at a dress on a mannequin in a shop window. It was a royal blue dress cut in a rockabilly style with a heart-shaped neckline and a full, knee-length skirt. The fabric looked a bit shiny and expensive, perhaps raw silk. It was trimmed in white lace and had button detailing. As soon as she saw it, Kyouko knew that the colour would go perfectly with her hair.

"It's princessy without being pastel! Oh, but I could never afford a dress like that."

"Who cares?" said Kanae-san. "Try it on anyway. I'll take a picture so you can remember the experience of trying it on."

Kyouko bit her lip. "Oh, OK, you've convinced me."

Five minutes later Kyouko stepped out of the dressing room.

"Oooh, I was right, it suits you!" said Amamiya-san.

Kyoko examined herself in the mirror. She was right; it really did look good on her. The back was a little lower than she was used to and the shoulder straps were very narrow, but the overall cut was classic enough that it came across as classy even though she was showing so much skin. A dress like this could be worn to a fancy party, worn with a blazer as a work outfit, or worn with trainers and a denim jacket as a casual outfit.

"I wish this wasn't so thoroughly out of my price range," said Kyouko. "When I looked at the price tag I nearly had a heart attack!"

Kanae-san stood up and held her phone out in front of her. "Let me take a picture so you can remember it."

Kyouko struck a pose, calling on the model training that Tsuruga-san had given her. Kanae-san took several pictures from a few different angles.

"Nice!" said Kanae-san. "You take a nice picture, Kyouko. Have you thought about doing any modelling to supplement your income?"

Kyouko snorted. "Don't be silly. I'm not model material. I'm too short!"

"Too short to be a runway model, maybe. But I think you have the right sort of look to be a model for the fashion pages in teen magazines and stuff like that. They want cute and quirky models rather than tall and elegant."

Kyouko shook her head. "I really hadn't thought about that."

"Well, do so."

A few pictures later, Kyouko regretfully returned to the dressing room to remove the gorgeous dress.

"Toss it over the top of the door when you're done and I'll put it back on the rack for you," said Kanae-san from outside the changing room.

When they emerged from the shop, Kyouko set her fists on her hips and looked around. "Right, now we have to find Amamiya-san something to try on and then regretfully leave behind because of the price!"

"I'd prefer to find something I can afford, as unlikely as that may be."

The LoveMe girls all laughed and then continued their amble through the mall.

* * *

"Wow, that's a huge poster of Fuwa Shou," said Amamiya-san. "Are you sure you're not still fond of him?"

Kyouko waved her hands frantically in front of the poster. "Don't get the wrong idea! This is my wall of hate. See the holes? That's from when I was throwing darts at it."

"Then why is Tsuruga-san's poster over there?"

Kyouko blushed. "Um, I really ought to get around to doing something about this wall. I started off on the wrong foot with Tsuruga-san, and that poster is from that time. So please don't make any assumptions about it meaning anything now, other than it reminding me that I want to become a better actor like him."

"Don't get so defensive. I'd personally think more of you if you did dislike an actor like him rather than falling under his spell like everyone else."

"Heheh, is that so ..." said Kyouko as she eyed the poster. She hadn't been able to take it down yet because ... well, because.

Out the corner of her eye she saw Kanae-san elbow Amamiya-san in the ribs.

"Hm?" said Kyouko.

"Nothing," said Kanae-san.

After their shopping trip, they'd ended up having dinner at the Darumaya. The Okami-san insisted they use the family dining room rather than the shop front, so they'd had plenty of privacy to discuss their weird and wonderful ideas of what to do for their LoveMe assignment. Each of them now had a list of ideas to run by the president when he asked. The Okami-san had also refused to charge the LoveMe girls for their meal, saying that 'Kyouko-chan's friends are our friends'.

After lingering over their meal for ages chatting about this and that, they had gone upstairs to see Kyouko's room at Amamiya-san's insistence. Kyouko felt a little unnerved because she hadn't had a chance to hide anything that she otherwise would have, like the poster of Shoutarou.

"What a huge rose!" said Amamiya-san as she leaned forward for a closer look at Queen Rosa. "And so carefully preserved. This must really be important to you, Kyouko-san."

"Ah, well, that's um ..." She flushed.

Kanae-san smirked. "I'm not surprised she kept it. After all, it was a birthday present from _Tsuruga-san_."

Amamiya-san turned wide eyes on Kyouko. "You got something like _this_ from _that man_?"

Kyouko's blush deepened. "Ah, um, yes."

"I'm sorry about what I said before. I didn't realise you were dating him. Wow, you sure kept _that_ quiet. Although, come to think of it, you were upset that time he was in that car accident."

"Nonono, it's not like that. We're not _dating._ That's just a normal, non-dating-type birthday present."

Amamiya-san gave her a blank look, then turned to Kanae-san and raised an eyebrow.

"It's safer to just drop the topic," said Kanae-san. "Besides, no matter how hard that man tried, he totally lost the birthday present battle to me. What did you think of the present I gave you, Kyouko?"

Kyouko balled her fists and grinned. "It was fantastic! I'm still so happy, Mouko-san!"

"Though I suppose," said Kanae-san with a sigh, "that if you add the rose and the crystal together, his present was better in the end, don't you think?"

"Crystal?" asked Amamiya-san.

"The pink crystal I wear in a necklace when I'm playing Natsu. She's called Princess Rosa and she's a magical crystal that grew in Queen Rosa, the rose." Kyouko clasped her hands together as she told the story.

Amamiya-san gave Kanae-san the exact same look she had given her a moment before, and also just as before, Kanae-san said, "It's safer to just drop the topic."

Amamiya-san moved further around the room, approaching the box where Kyouko kept her dolls. Kanae-san already knew about the dolls. Kyouko didn't want to let Amamiya-san see them and be as creeped out as Kanae-san had been.

"I know!" she exclaimed. "A new gelato place opened recently around the corner. Let's go have some dessert!"

"Oh, no no, Kyouko," said Kanae-san, "No way. Gelato is full of sugar."

"But, Mouko-saaaaaan! We ate such a healthy dinner. We were _so_ good, we didn't have a single fried dish. And I really, really want to go to somewhere like a gelato place with my friends."

"But—"

"You can get gelato in tiny little cups with no cone or anything. It won't be that bad, honest."

Kanae-san looked at Amamiya-san as if looking for backup, but Amamiya-san's eyes were nearly twinkling.

"Gelato sounds good," she said.

Kanae-san sighed.

* * *

Ten minutes later, the three girls were ensconced in a booth at the _Roma-Ai Gelato_. Kanae-san had a little cup of strawberry gelato, while both Kyouko and Amamiya-san had large tri-flavoured cones.

Kyouko took a large lick of the mango gelato balanced on the top of the stack. "Mmmm, this is great. I'm so glad we came here."

"Oh, I agree," said Amamiya-san. "This was a great idea, Kyouko-san." She was half-way through the chocolate gelato ball on the top of her own cone.

"We should do this more often," said Kyouko. "Or at least, if our schedules allow. I'm sure both of you will soon be so busy with new offers that you won't have time to see me all that often." Her eyes grew watery in the corners at the thought.

"Pah! I bet you'll be the first one to become too busy to meet up with us," said Kanae-san. "I can't believe you got handed yet another role on a silver platter, straight after Box-R. You're doing so well, Kyouko."

Kyouko blushed. "I'm just having a run of luck, that's all."

"I don't think that's true," said Amamiya-san. "You work really hard. You've earned it. And I don't say that often, Kyouko-san; you know I don't."

Kyouko looked at her friends with shimmering eyes. "Thank you. Both of you work very hard as well."

Kanae-san opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a ringing phone.

Kyouko yelped and nearly lost the mango portion of her gelato. She placed her cone back on the cone holder and pulled her phone out of her handbag. She smiled when she saw Tsuruga-san's name on the screen.

"Moshi moshi, Mogami desu," she answered.

- _Hi, it's me,-_ said Tsuruga-san.

"Tsuruga-san, good evening."

- _Is this a good time? I wanted to ask how you're going with deciding whether to take that role.-_

"Ah, yes. It's fine, but I'm out with Mouko-san and Amamiya-san, so I can only talk briefly. Is that OK?" What she really meant was 'So I can't talk about the specifics of the role,' but she was sure Kanae-san would figure everything out if she said that. She hoped Tsuruga-san would catch on.

- _That's fine. I wasn't intending to discuss the details at this point. I'm just—well, I'm just being nosy and wondering if you're going to take the part or not.-_

"I intend to take the role. How about your offer?"

- _I accepted it. And, actually, I had heard you'd started the process of accepting the role. That is, the director mentioned it.-_

Kyouko frowned to herself. Tsuruga-san was beating around the bush about something, but it wasn't her place to demand her sempai be more clear.

"Yes, I have a meeting tomorrow to work out a few final details."

- _I've been asked to attend that meeting.-_

 _"_ You have? Why?"

- _To, ah, answer any questions your mother may have about_ how _we will be portraying certain things.-_

Kyouko sighed. This was the real reason for his call. She hadn't been able to keep the story of her mother from him for long, despite how she'd tried to hold it back that night she'd _so so embarrassingly_ mistaken him for Corn and cried in his arms. In fact, she suspected he knew more than he'd let on — something she blamed on Takarada-shachou, the most likely culprit. She wasn't sure how she felt about the idea of the president and Tsuruga-san gossiping about her behind her back.

"I understand. Please, don't worry. I've made progress with that person. I won't be in the state that I was that night, I assure you. That was my rock bottom; I'm now steadily working myself back up into the light."

There was a heavy pause on the other end of the line. - _I'm glad to hear that,-_ he said finally. - _Please tell me the story of that journey when you're ready. I'm interested hear how you go about it.-_

Kyouko shook her head, not in denial but in puzzlement. She had a feeling Tsuruga-san was saying something important there, but she didn't know what.

"Um, see you tomorrow, then."

- _Yeah, see you tomorrow. Sleep well.-_

 _"_ You, too. Good night."

Kyouko put her phone on the table and reached out for her gelato cone again, but stopped when she saw both Kanae-san and Amamiya-san staring at her wide-eyed.

"What? Do I have gelato on my face?" she asked.

"I have to say I'm a little disappointed in you, Kyouko-san. You _are_ dating Tsuruga-san, aren't you?" asked Amamiya-san.

Kyouko shot to her feet. "I'm _not dating him!"_ she said, far too loud. The two other customers and the staff behind the counter looked at her. Kyouko flushed red and sat back down. "Really, Amamiya-san, I'm not," she said in a much quieter voice. "If you're going to accuse me of that, I have no choice but to ask: what's going on between you and that spiky-haired guy from the comedy show?"

Amamiya-san gave Kyouko a blank look. "Who, Taichirou-san? Why would you think there's something between me and him? You read my journal. You know I hate that guy!"

"Yeah, but, that time I acted as your temporary manager it took him _ages_ to even notice I was in the room, even though I was wearing my LoveMe overalls, because he only had eyes for you." She grinned at her friend. "Well, I understand. You are much cuter than me."

Amamiya-san shook her head. "Am not. If there is anything, it's all on his end. I have no interest in dating anyone. But we're not talking about him. We're talking about Tsuruga-san. His voice carried, you know. He said 'It's me,' not 'It's Tsuruga.' That's a really familiar way of greeting someone on the phone."

"That's because he knew I'd already know it was him because of caller ID." Kyouko's face was burning.

Amamiya-san smirked. "You didn't seem all that surprised to get a call from him, even though it's now after 9 pm. I could tell from the conversation that it was work related, but even so, getting a call from a work colleague in the evening, I think you'd be more surprised than that if they were _just_ a work colleague."

"No, it's because he's so busy during the day, it's normal for him to make calls in the evening—hey!"

Amamiya-san stole Kyouko's phone, flipped it open, and started navigating though the menus. Kyouko made a grab for it, but Amamiya-san turned around and held the phone away from Kyouko's side of the table.

"Received calls, received calls," said Amamiya-san.

"That's a breach of privacy!"

"No, it's a friendly intervention."

Kyouko tried to slide out of the booth so that she could pursue her phone, but Kanae-san stood and blocked her in.

"Mouko-san, why?"

Kanae-san grinned. "Because, honestly, I want to know too."

"Whoa," said Amamiya-san. "Almost all of her incoming calls are either from LME or Tsuruga-san. Actually, I think there are more calls from Tsuruga-san."

"It's a recent thing only," said Kyouko. Somehow they'd ended up talking on the phone more often after the Tragic Marker shoot had finished and the Heel sibling act had ended.

"More than me?" asked Kanae-san.

" _Way_ more. An order of magnitude more."

"Don't exaggerate. He'd have to be calling her every day, sometimes more than once a day."

"He _does_. A ten-minute call last night ..."

"He saw something on TV he thought I'd be interested in," mumbled Kyouko.

"... a two-minute call the night before ..."

"He dropped me off at home, then called to make sure I'd got in OK."

"... a _half-hour_ call the night before that ..."

"He called to ask where the grater was, but then we started talking about personal curses and bad omens and half an hour went by."

"What?" asked Kanae-san.

"If you'd ever tried his cooking, you'd understand how we ended up on that topic."

"No, I mean he called _you_ to ask where the grater is in _his_ kitchen?" Kanae-san crossed her arms. "Is Amamiya right? Are you secretly dating him?"

Kyouko waved her words away. "NO. The fact I was the last person to use his grater says nothing about how frequently I go to his place and everything about how infrequently he cooks. Seriously. The man lives on onigiri, cup ramen, and whiskey. It's appalling." She scowled and clenched her fists. "I bet he only needed the grater to grate lemon peel for a cocktail or something like that."

"But you've been to his place?"

"Ah," Kyouko hesitated, suddenly realising she'd accidentally let that secret out. She picked up her gelato cone and licked up the bits that were starting to run. "Um, I've been, but only a few times. To cook. And to ask acting advice."

Kanae-san raised an eyebrow. "When was the last time you were there?"

Kyouko turned the gelato cone around and around in her hands. "Um, two nights ago."

Kanae-san sat on the bench seat beside Kyouko. "Has he ever, you know, _tried_ anything?"

"Like what?"

"Like, you know, kissing or stuff like that."

Kyouko thought of the time she had been playing Mizuki against his Katsuki and her cheeks burst into flame again. But he hadn't actually kissed her that time, only threatened to do so, and not as himself. He had been acting. "No, he's never done anything like that."

"That was a really long pause, Kyouko-san," said Amamiya-san.

"Because I was embarrassed about the question!"

"I feel like we're learning a lot this evening," said Kanae-san. "Be careful, though, Kyouko. If he ever did try anything, you'd be well out of your depth."

Kyouko looked down at her hands to hide her face and then nodded.

"How often does she call him?" Kanae-san asked Amamiya-san.

"Just a moment." Amamiya-san browsed through Kyouko's phone again. "Not as much as he calls her but still a lot. Still more than you."

"You call _him_ more than _me_?"

"I'm sorry!" cried Kyouko to Kanae-san. "I don't know how that keeps happening. I just need a lot of advice from my sempai because I'm hopeless, I guess."

"Tch! I can't believe it," said Kanae-san with a frown. "I believe you when you say you're not dating him, because you're you, after all. But if that's the case, does that make him your _real_ best friend instead of me? You know, since you apparently talk to him more often than you talk to me, your supposed best friend."

"No, of course not! How could that be? He's my respected sempai, not my _friend_."

Amamiya-san snorted. "People can be both, you know. It's the 21st century, not the Meiji Period. I mean, we're friends, aren't we? But I also consider you to be my sempai in the LoveMe Section."

Kyouko sat still, thoroughly stunned. People can be _both_?

"Please tell me this isn't an epiphany for you, Kyouko," said Kanae-san.

Kyouko attacked her gelato again. "Of course not," she said between bites.

"Enough about men," said Amamiya-san as she put Kyouko's phone back on the table. "This is supposed to be a girl's night. How about after we finish our gelato we go find a karaoke box?"

"Great idea!" said Kyouko. "Let's sing happy, upbeat songs as a Box-R palate cleanser!"

"Oh, good grief, why did I agree to this excursion?" said Kanae-san.

* * *

 **Next time: What will Saena-san think of Kyouko's new job? And what will she think of Ren?**

 **(Do yourself a favour and Google image search "Venus Fort Odaiba" — I think you'll agree it's just the sort of place that Kyouko would fall in love with. When I went there, all I could afford was a few Lego key rings, a Laputa hand towel, and a Princess Mononoke potted plant decoration. And they were from the "far corner" shops.)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

 **Author's Note:**  
 _ **Skip Beat!**_ **and its characters belong to the creator Nakamura Yoshiki.** _**Skip Beat!**_ **is serialised in 'Hana to Yume' magazine (Hakusensha) and licensed in English by 'Shojo Beat' (VIZ Media, LLC).**

 **The work below is written in the spirit of fan appreciation.**  
 **UK English has been used throughout.**

 **I found this chapter very hard to write because we're only learning about Saena now. I wonder if the very next chapter of the manga will invalidate my assumptions :)  
** **To everyone who left reviews of the story so far: thank you for all the fantastic feedback. I'm glad you're enjoying the story. Happy New Year!**

* * *

 _Don't freak out_ , he told himself.

Before him stood Mogami Saena, but Kyouko-chan hadn't arrived yet and Ren didn't know what to do. Even Yashiro-san wasn't there.

"Nice to meet you," he said with a bow. "I'm Tsuruga Ren. Please regard me favourably."

"I'm Mogami. Nice to meet you. Are you the actor who starred in _Dark Moon_?"

"Yes, I played Katsuki."

"Hm."

Ren waited a moment, half-expecting the woman to say that her daughter had been in the show too. Instead, she just looked askance of him, as if wondering why he was standing near her.

He gave her his most polite smile. "I believe we're waiting for the same meeting. I'm here to meet with Mifune-kantoku and your daughter." _Yes, I know who you are._

A deep wrinkle appeared in her brow. Ren expected her to say something to indicate she was annoyed or affronted, but instead she said, "Ah, my apologies. You must be in this new drama too."

Ren kept his face locked in the smile. Her facial expression and her words did not seem to match. Usually he was pretty good at reading the flow of conversation in Japanese, but talking to Kyouko-chan's mother made him remember when he was 16 or so and still having trouble with the frustrating 'it's all in the context' nature of the Japanese language.

"Yes, I'm in the drama. I'm looking forward to working with your daughter again. It's been a while since we shot the last episode of _Dark Moon_." He had no choice but to assume that Kyouko-chan hadn't told her mother about _Tragic Marker_.

"Hm."

Ren was close to gritting his teeth. He'd seen this woman deny her own daughter's existence on TV. Even though Kyouko-chan had said that she had begun to work through her issues with her mother, he wanted to see some sign of improvement in the woman with his own eyes to assure himself that Kyouko-chan would be fine in her company. He didn't have a right to interfere, but he did want to make sure she was OK.

His train of thought was interrupted by four people approaching them: Kyouko-chan, Yashiro-san, Mifune-kantoku, and an unknown woman.

"Ren, I found the others having a conversation just down the hall," said Yashiro-san.

"Good afternoon, mother. Good afternoon, Tsuruga-sempai," said Kyouko-chan as she bowed so deeply that Ren could only see her back.

Those who had never met before were introduced. The woman with Mifune-kantoku was the producer, Kobayashi-san. They entered the meeting room and took seats: the director and the producer on one end, Ren and Yashiro-san at one side, and Kyouko-chan and her mother across from them. Ren smiled at Kyouko-chan and then looked at the director.

"Thank you all for coming here today," said the director. "And thank you Mogami-san in particular for coming to this meeting during what is no doubt a busy work day for you. Before we continue, may I ask you to sign this? Its purpose is to protect the plot details of the show from leaking."

Kyouko-chan's mother carefully read the NDA, signed it, and returned it to the director. Once she had done so, the director outlined the role of Takamatsu Tomoe and her relationship with Ren's character.

Ren barely heard a word that he said. Instead, he watched Kyouko-chan out the corner of his eye while he pretended to look at the director. She sat beside her mother with an attentive look on her face. If he didn't know better, he would have no clue that there was any bad blood between her and her mother, because there wasn't a single speck of discomfort on her face. Ren didn't trust that mild expression, though. She'd hidden enough stuff from him before that he suspected if she didn't want anyone to see that she was in pain, they wouldn't.

"I understand," said Kyouko-chan's mother. "Are you asking special permission because you will be asking my daughter to do questionable things on camera?"

"No, no, no," said Mifune-kantoku. "Our lawyer is just very thorough. We want this drama to have either a 7.30 pm or 8.30 pm time slot, so it will be very tame. Just a few kisses, and one scene where we will have the two actors under a duvet, fully clothed, and imply that the characters were recently intimate. We won't ask for any, ah, movements." He cleared his throat and glanced at Kyouko-chan. The tiniest hint of pink dusted her cheeks for a brief moment before it faded away. She was getting so good at controlling her blushes! Few actors could do that at will.

"If my daughter is comfortable acting those scenes, and if she is happy with the long days, I can't see a reason why she shouldn't take the role. This is her chosen career, after all. It must be good for her development to push herself with new role types."

Mifune-kantoku also looked briefly surprised. "That's fantastic. To tell you the truth, I was expecting a little more hesitancy, so I prepared some further assurances for you. May I convey them anyway?"

"Please do."

"Much of the drama will be shot in the studio, but we will also have many location shots down in Zushi, near Kamakura. We've rented a house near the location so that the skeleton crew can stay there when we're having late night and early morning shoots because travel may be impractical, especially for those without cars. I wanted to assure you that all the rooms have lockable doors, there are separate male and female bathrooms, and whenever your daughter will be staying at the house, Kobayashi-san will also stay to chaperone her."

Kobayashi-san bowed to Kyouko-chan's mother from her seated position.

"Thank you for your assurance," said Kyouko-chan's mother.

"Yes, thank you so much. I'm sorry for any hassle I will cause," said Kyouko-chan.

"That's quite all right," said Kobayashi-san. "We want to take good care of you."

The house was news to Ren, but he had worked under similar circumstances before. Not all dramas had enough in the budget for hotel reservations for cast and crew.

Zushi, a popular summer beach, made sense as a location for a summer drama, even though the story was supposed to be set further north on the Pacific coast. The camera crew would just have to make sure they didn't catch any obvious landmarks, such as Mt Fuji, in frame. His character would be working a summer job at a beach café and spending a lot of time at the beach. His mind stuttered briefly over the thought of possibly getting to see Kyouko-chan in a bathing suit, but he pushed the thought aside and concentrated on the meeting instead.

"I also asked Tsuruga-san here today in case you had any questions for him, considering that he will be working so closely with your daughter," said Mifune-kantoku.

Instead of turning to him, Kyouko-chan's mother turned to her and asked, "Are you comfortable acting this role with him?"

Kyouko-chan coloured slightly. She didn't look at him, only her mother. Ren supposed she was embarrassed talking about this kind of topic.

"Yes, I think I can act the role with him. He's very professional, and actually he's my sempai at LME and has given me much advice and assistance on my journey to becoming an actress."

Ren's heart managed to both swell and deflate at once. She was comfortable with him. Because she considered him to be her professional sempai.

Kyouko-chan's mother finally looked at him. The frown on her brow made him feel like he ought to apologise ahead of time for any unavoidable intimacy he would need to have with Kyouko-chan to film the scenes alluded to.

"Will you keep an eye on Kyouko during the filming of the drama and make sure that she is professional and others are professional to her?"

Ren bowed in his seat, hiding his expression. Like her daughter, had she not noticed that he was a young man? He was a bit insulted that she hadn't considered the possibility that _he_ was a possible threat. Which, to be perfectly fair, he probably was despite how determined he was not to push Kyouko-chan any further than she was ready for. After all, he still occasionally had those moments where he imagined that she had started to see him as a desirable man and he had to talk sense into himself again. What if he made a mistake one day, thought she wanted him, acted, and screwed everything up?

Actually, considering that was one of his biggest fears, he probably wasn't a threat after all. _Face it, Ren. There's still too much of chicken Kuon in you for you to try anything._

"I will take good care of her," he said.

Kyouko-chan's mother inclined her head.

"If you're happy with everything, could I prevail upon you to sign this document, Mogami-san?" said Kobayashi-san. "The document is carefully worded so that you can check with us about anything at any point. We aren't intending to lock your daughter into our project in a way that will take away her rights or yours." She handed Kyouko-chan's mother a multi-page document.

While Kyouko-chan's mother read the document, Mifune-kantoku gestured at Ren and Kyouko-chan. "I brought these for you to look at, since you're here." He then pushed a sheet of paper to each of them.

Ren's paper showed a sketchy illustration of a male figure wearing an unbuttoned henley t-shirt, cargo pants rolled to the knee, and flip-flop sandals. The man had his hair pushed back with a headband. The look was very small town Japan casual. To the side, there were smaller illustrations of the man wearing a hooded light rain jacket and a zip-up hoodie.

"Ooshima Kazufumi's wardrobe concept?" he asked.

"Yes. What do you think?"

It looked like he would be a lot more comfortable on the set of this new drama than he had been on other sets over the last few years. Costume departments had a tendency to put him in suits and ties all the time. Just looking at the casual wardrobe illustrations made him feel at ease.

"It looks good. Different from my normal look, but that's something I'm keen to try. What do you think Yashiro-san?"

His manager was looking at the sheet as well. "I like it too," he said. "Quite a few people online say they aren't your fans because even though they like your face, they think you look too buttoned up and stiff all the time. It'll do wonders for your popularity to show a different, more casual look."

"'Stiff'?"

"Their word, not mine, Ren." Yashiro-san grinned. "Even you can't please everyone. We can give it a good go, though, right?"

"What do you think of your wardrobe concept, Kyouko-san?" asked Mifune-kantoku.

Ren looked across at her. She had a small frown on her brow.

"It's not what I expected considering how the character is written in the script."

"Are you worried?" asked Kobayashi-san.

"Oh! No," said Kyouko-chan. "I just think that I'll have to put a little more work into developing my character, but that's a good thing. It's a challenge." That determined smile was pulling at the corner of her mouth.

"May I see?" asked Ren.

"Sure." She passed her sheet across the table to him, and he handed his to her in return.

The girl in the picture wore a short-sleeved purple hoodie over some kind of sleeveless shirt or tank top that was only sketchily drawn, pink high-top basketball sneakers, and turquoise denim shorts of a similar length as those Setsuka Heel had worn. The figure was drawn with a teenaged slouch and with hair falling in her eyes. The side pictures showed the girl with ripped jeans, a tank top and Dr Martens; and wearing a sleeveless summer dress with fingerless gloves and the same pair of Dr Martens. Overall the look was casual and nowhere near as sexual as Setsuka Heel, but even so the outfits didn't cover much more skin.

"Are the shorts too short?" Asked Mifune-kantoku. "We don't want to make you uncomfortable, but we do want to convey the heat of summer through the characters' wardrobes."

"That's fine, director, I can wear them."

She held the other paper up and looked from it to Ren and back again.

"Can you see me wearing that?" he asked.

She smiled. "Easily."

Of course. He'd been wearing his track pants when he cooked the Maui omu rice for her, and he'd lent her a hoodie another time she'd visited, so she knew he didn't always wear the dressy outfits he wore to work.

They handed the costume sheets back to the director, and a short while later Kyouko-chan's mother signed the consent form and handed it in as well.

"Thank you very much for coming in today," said Mifune-kantoku. "Tsuruga-san, Kyouko-san, I look forward to working with you on this drama. Needless to say, even though neither of you will play the main character in this drama, it's success will still rely on your performances. Please call me if you have any questions. If not, the next you'll hear will either be the costume or makeup departments asking you to come in for measurements or trial shots, or it will be Kobayashi-san calling you in for the first round-table script reading, whichever is first."

"I have a quick question now," said Kyouko-chan. "If our characters' relationship is so important, why didn't you ask us to come in for a chemistry test?"

 _Good question_ , thought Ren. He hadn't considered that because he already knew they had good acting chemistry.

The director coughed and gave Kobayashi-san a sidelong look. "Well, ah, a certain director is one of my drinking buddies and has also been my sempai in the field for many years. I don't mean Ogata who directed _Dark Moon_."

 _Konoe-kantoku_ , thought Ren. Kyouko-chan gave him a look that indicated she was thinking the same thing.

"Do I need to say more?" asked the director.

"No," they both said.

"What are you talking about?" asked Kyouko-chan's mother.

"Um, I can't say much, but he's referring to the job I needed the passport for, the one where I was working behind the scenes."

"Why would such a job negate the need for a chemistry test, whatever that is?" Kyouko-chan's mother looked at Ren for an answer.

"We're not at liberty to say. We signed NDAs."

"Technically I shouldn't know, either," said the director. "That guy got a little drunk and just had to brag about how smart he was, though."

Ren sighed. Would Cain Heel's identity remain secret until after the _Tragic Marker_ movie premiere, or would it come out sooner?

The director stood and everyone else followed suit.

Ren bowed. "Please take care of me from now on. I look forward to working with you."

"You, too," said the director.

Everyone else said their farewells too and filed out of the room. Once in the hallway, the director and the producer left immediately, saying they had another

meeting to go to.

Ren turned to Kyouko-chan. "Are you looking forward to the drama?"

"Yes, um, sorry, I have to go too. I have a LoveMe job." She bowed to him, then to her mother. "Thank you. Thank you so much!"

"Please don't mention it," said her mother. "Now, off you go to your job."

Kyouko-chan bowed again and then took off at a run.

"Is she going to that mysterious job again?" asked Yashiro-san.

"Looks like."

"Are you sure you don't want me to look into what it is?"

Ren gave his manager a sharp look. "It's not our business."

"OK. We've an hour before we have to go to the magazine shoot. I'm going to make some calls. You should take a break. Do you need me to get you anything?"

"No, I'll be fine. I'll get a cup of tea or something."

"You'd better eat something too," said Yashiro-san. "Or Kyouko-chan will growl at me. Meet you in the foyer in an hour." Yashiro-san waved and walked down the hall, already pulling on a latex glove so that he could safely operate his phone.

Ren turned to Kyouko-chan's mother, who was still standing nearby. He bowed. "It was nice to meet you today."

"If you have time, may I prevail upon you?" she said. "I have a few questions."

Ren's stomach sank, but he could hardly turn her down. She'd just heard him say he was free for the next hour. "Of course. There's a staff and visitor café on the second floor. Would you like a tea or coffee?"

* * *

Ten minutes later, Ren sat across from his crush's mother, feeling as awkward and fidgety as a boy meeting his very first girlfriend's parents. She sat with her hands folded and her back straight, a blank look on her face. Ren picked up his teacup and took a sip to calm his nerves. His BLT sandwich so far sat to one side untouched.

Sweat pricked at Ren's temples and armpits. He was waiting for the recriminations to start; something along the lines of, 'Why are you making eyes at my teenaged daughter?' He must have let his feelings slip during the meeting. He knew he had it bad, and he was sure most people could see it on his face. Well, everyone except the girl in question.

"What is your professional opinion of my daughter's acting ability?"

Ren blinked. "Huh?"

"You've worked with her before, haven't you? I'd like to know how good she is and what her prospects are."

"She's good. Really good. It's hard to believe she only started acting last year. She has a lot of natural talent."

Kyouko-chan's mother gave him a long look. "You're not just saying that because it's what you think I want to hear, are you?"

"Not at all. I really mean it. It surprised me that she started making so much progress so fast. First a commercial, then a music video, then straight to an important role in a popular drama. Your daughter is doing much better than I did for many years."

"She must have some problems and challenges, surely."

Ren nodded. "She does. But she's working hard to overcome those hurdles. I've never come across anyone else in the industry who strives as hard for perfection as her, but what else would you expect from a girl who got 100% on her entrance exam for one of the top schools in Tokyo?"

Kyouko-chan's mother gasped. "She got 100%?"

 _You great big idiot,_ he thought to himself. _Why did you tell her that? Kyouko-chan got that score for herself, not for her mother like she'd always tried to do in the past. She probably didn't want her mother to know!_

"As I understand it, yes," he said.

The briefest of smiles tugged at the corner of her mouth, but she quickly smoothed it away. "What do you think of her potential to make acting a long-term career?"

"I think she'll be able to do it." He rubbed at his mouth, weighing up two considerations: telling Kyouko-chan's mother how awesome her daughter was because of what he knew about the woman's past actions, and Kyouko-chan's probable reluctance to open up to her mother too much at this point. What should Ren say, and what should he leave unsaid? "I'm not the only one who thinks so," he said eventually. "The president wouldn't have hired her if he didn't have high hopes."

"Isn't she in a reserve section?"

"That's the official line about the LoveMe section, but it's not how the section is handled in reality. It's well known that the LoveMe girls are the president's pet project, his favourites. He pushes them harder because he believes in their potential." He decided not to say that the section had been created in the first place as a section in which to put Kyouko-chan. "Also, as I understand it, Kuu Hizuri believes in her talents too and would like to see her acting in Hollywood." Now, why did he go and say that?

Kyouko-chan's mother's eyes widened. "She's met Kuu Hizuri? The Hollywood actor? He knows who she is?"

"Um, yes. It's not really my place to tell that story, though. I shouldn't have mentioned it." He really shouldn't have. He was usually in better control of himself than this, but he had to admit to himself that he was finding Mogami Saena to be rather intimidating.

"But he said he thinks she has potential?"

"Yes, I heard him say so himself when he was visiting LME."

"Of course, she was in a remake of a drama that he was well known for," she said to herself.

"Did you watch _Tsukigomori_?"

"Yes, back when it was on TV for the first time. I was at Uni and the others in my dorm watched it religiously."

"How did you think _Dark Moon_ compared with the original?" He hoped that she thought Kyouko-chan had performed a better Mio.

"I only saw one episode of _Dark Moon_ when I happened to have the TV on."

Ren sat staring at her, speechless. She hadn't watched the drama her own daughter had appeared in?

Kyouko-chan's mother raised an eyebrow at him. "I didn't realise it was her at the time. By the time I realised it was too late, and it hasn't been repeated or released on DVD yet."

That wasn't so bad. "I've been given a few pre-release copies of the DVD box set," he said. "I was given them as a thank you for contributing to the audio commentary. Would you like a copy? I'm allowed to give them to people that I know."

She inclined her head slightly. "That would be nice. Thank you."

"Where should I send it to?"

She opened her purse and took out a business card. She handed it to him with a small seated bow. He took the card, looked at it carefully as was important to do in Japan, and then slid it into his shoulder bag.

"Thank you," he said. "I'll send you the DVDs as soon as I'm able."

Kyouko-chan's mother finished her cup of tea and then stood. "I need to get back to work. Thank you very much for your time, Tsuruga-san, and thank you for agreeing to keep an eye on my daughter on set. I'm glad to know that she will have a sempai around who will be looking out for her interests."

Ren stood and bowed to her. "It's my pleasure. It was nice to meet you."

* * *

At the appointed time, Yashiro-san arrived in the foyer to meet Ren. "Are you OK, Ren?" He asked. "You're looking a little peaky. Did you eat?"

"Of course. I had a sandwich. But Mogami-san's mother joined me and asked me questions about her daughter."

Yashiro-san's eyes widened. "Did she figure out, well, you know? Your feelings?" He said the last in a stage whisper.

Ren shook his head. "I don't think so. She asked me about Mogami-san's acting ability."

Yashiro-san nodded. "That's a good sign, I think."

"Yeah. I don't want to meddle in Mogami-san's affairs, but it's good to know that she wasn't tricking us when she said that she was making progress with her mother."

They walked out to the parking lot as they talked. Just before they reached Ren's car, Yashiro-san handed him an envelope.

"I ran into Kotonami-san just before. She asked me to hand this to you."

"What is it?"

"I have no idea." Yashiro-san's face took on a shifty look. "Wouldn't it be awkward if Kyouko-chan's best friend fell for you?"

Ren shook his head. "I doubt Kotonami-san is likely to fall for anyone. She's in the LoveMe section too, remember?"

He opened the envelope once he was seated in the driver's seat. Inside was a piece of A4 with an inkjet printout of a photo to one side and a handwritten note on the white space beside it. The photo was of Kyouko-chan wearing a gorgeous blue 1950s-style dress and posing like a magazine model. His gaze was arrested by her confident expression and the delicate lines of her neck and shoulders. The colour of the dress brought out her eyes and suited her hair colour. After several long moments he forced himself to look at the handwritten text:

 _Dress: Swingin' Sweetheart, blue, size S, 39,999 yen_  
 _Shop: Rock Your Socks Off, Venus Fort (has an online store)_  
 _She was so sad she couldn't afford it._

 _You're welcome_  
 _Kotonami_

 _P.S. You owe me one_

* * *

 **Next time: What's Shoutarou up to this time? And who else has been cast in** _**Aozora no Yume**_ **?**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

 **Author's Note:**  
 _ **Skip Beat!**_ **and its characters belong to the creator Nakamura Yoshiki.** _**Skip Beat!**_ **is serialised in 'Hana to Yume' magazine (Hakusensha) and licensed in English by 'Shojo Beat' (VIZ Media, LLC).**

 **The work below is written in the spirit of fan appreciation.  
** **UK English has been used throughout.**

 **Thank you again to everyone who has left me reviews. I'm so happy that you're enjoying my writing.**

* * *

Shouko stood in the living area of her apartment and looked at the mess with narrowed eyes. The entire coffee table was covered in empty cans, chip packets, and crusty plates. There were also several used tissues. Shouko wrinkled her nose when she saw what they'd been used for.

"Shou!" she called out. "Shou, where are you?"

She found him asleep on her bed, wearing nothing but jeans. She shook his shoulder once, then again when he didn't rouse immediately.

"Shou, wake up!"

He looked up at her with bleary eyes. "Wha? Oh, it's you. You getting in?"

"No, I'm not getting in. What's that mess out there?"

"What mess?"

"The cans and all the rest of the rubbish. You're supposed to be writing a new song. You need to record it in two days!"

Shou stretched and then sat up. He ran a hand through his hair. "Don't get your panties in a twist, Shouko. There's plenty of time. It's just a fluffy little drama. It'll be piss easy to write a theme song for it." He stood, stumbled a few steps, then walked to the bathroom. He didn't bother to shut either the main bathroom door or the door to the toilet stall before relieving himself.

Shouko stood outside the bathroom with her hands on her hips. When Shou emerged he blinked in surprise. "Yes?"

"If the song will be so easy to write, why don't you just do it and get it out of the way?"

Shou pushed past her and flopped onto the sofa. "Don't push me, Shouko. I need to be in the right mindset to write. I need to hear the Muse's words. Until then, I need to spend time stimulating my creative juices." He patted his knee, inviting her to sit on his lap. "You could always help me, you know." He grinned. "It's your job, right?"

Shouko bit the inside of her cheek to keep from screaming at him. He made her sound like a whore. Is that what she was to him? No, it couldn't be. He relied on her. He was helpless without her. Like a child. Ugh, what a mess she'd got herself entangled in.

"I'll pass," she said. "If you aren't going to write, you could at least tidy up the mess you've made of my living room."

He picked up the remote and turned on the TV. He quickly flicked away from a shot of two naked women writhing on a bed to a variety show.

"I'm the talent, Shouko. You could do it for me." He gave her a wide-eyed look and a winning smile.

That smile had won her over many times before, but for some reason that day it didn't work. The combination of the mess, the laziness, and the disregard for the sanctity of her home made something inside Shouko snap. "You want _me_ to pick up _your_ mess?"

"Yes, because you're so _good_ at it Shouko. I really appreciate it." He didn't even look away from the variety show.

She tried to hold it in. She really, truly did. But it was too late. He'd pushed her just that little bit too far.

"I'm your manager, not your slave. Clean this mess up!"

He gaped at her. The sound of studio audience laughter filled the space between them. "I don't clean, Shouko. I'm the number 1 musician in all of Japan!"

"You will clean, and you'll do it now." She grabbed the controller out of his hand and turned off the TV.

"Hey, I'm watching that!"

"You can continue watching it after you've thrown out this rubbish."

"Shouko! You've always helped me out before. Why not today?"

"Because I'm sick of you taking advantage of me! I thought it was cute at first that you were so helpless, but that was when you were sixteen. You're eighteen now! You need to start doing things for yourself!"

He stood up and tangled his fingers in her hair. "But you're so good at looking after me, Shouko. Isn't it best for each of us to do what we're good at? I'll make the music, and you'll look after all the small, fiddly details."

She pushed his hand out of her hair. "Stop using me as a substitute Kyouko!"

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she knew she had gone too far. His eyes widened, then narrowed. He clenched his teeth. Shouko covered her mouth.

"How dare you?"

"I'm sorry," she said. She wasn't really, though. Now the words were said, she could see the truth in them. She _was_ a substitute Kyouko, only one he was willing to sleep with as well as use as a maid.

"She's _nothing_ to me Shouko. You should know that. You really think that I miss that plain girl? Huh?"

Shouko crossed her arms. "Yes, I think you do."

"You're wrong. If you want to compare yourself to an unsexy girl like that, if you want to follow her example and turn against me, that's your call." He loomed over her. "You'll be sorry, though. You'll be so sorry."

He stomped into the bedroom and emerged a moment later with a shirt and his jacket on. Then he left the apartment, slamming the door behind him.

Shouko stood stunned in the middle of the living room, still clutching the TV remote. She breathed out a long-held breath, collapsed onto the sofa, and dropped her head back against the cushion. Hopefully he'd returned to his own apartment on the floor above and wasn't intending to wander the streets or anything like that. He'd be back once he calmed down. For now, she'd be better off leaving him alone. She could do with an evening without him around anyway. Her nerves were shot.

* * *

Kyouko rummaged through her drawers looking for any clothes that looked like those she'd seen on the costume concept sheet. She wasn't having much luck. Her own taste in tops was a bit more dressy and feminine than her character's and although she wore short skirts and occasionally short shorts, she tended to wear them on the loose side. She sat back on her heels and frowned at her clothes. _I really need some new stuff,_ she thought. _My clothes are starting to look a little childish even to me._

"Ah!" she said aloud, then dug a bag out of the back of her closet. She still had all the Setsuka Heel clothes and the wig to hand just in case she was needed again before the _Tragic Marker_ premiere. She dug around in the bag until she found Setsuka's black denim hot pants then pulled them on. She caught sight of herself in her new full-length mirror wearing just the hot pants and her bra. _Wow, I almost thought I looked sexy for a moment there._

After a bit more rummaging she pulled on a singlet top she usually wore as an under layer and her hoodie — it was too long but she tried her best to ignore the back showing between her legs when she looked at herself in the mirror.

For the moment she just looked silly. She was only Kyouko in a bizarre outfit.

First she dragged her hair down into her eyes. Then she adjusted her posture into a slouch. "Not quite right. I look like a wannabe juvenile delinquent whose idea of being bad is stealing paper clips and pens."

She jumped when someone knocked on her door. She slid the panel aside and peered out. "Yes?"

The Okami-san stood outside her room. "I'm about to put a teapot on to steep. Would you like me to bring you a cup of green tea?" she asked.

"Oh, yes please, if it's no bother."

The Okami-san was about to leave, but then she paused. "You aren't intending to go out like that, are you?"

Kyouko looked down at her exposed legs and blushed. "No, I'm just trying to find my new character. I'm wearing the best approximation of her clothes that I could put together."

"Oh, OK." The Okami-san smiled and then left. As she walked down the stairs, Kyouko thought she heard her mutter, "Didn't know she owned shorts like that."

Kyouko sighed and shut the door. She couldn't exactly tell the Okami-san about Setsuka Heel and her crazy wardrobe.

Standing in front of the mirror again, Kyouko stared at her reflection and thought about Takamatsu Tomoe. The scripts for the first few episodes had her acting rather shy and stand-offish. She was a high school graduate, but she hadn't passed the entrance exams for her university of choice so she was spending a year as a _rounin_ , attending prep school and working a part-time job to bide time until she could try again. She was in an odd in-between life stage. Many of her friends had moved away to go to university. Those of her classmates who hadn't gone were not the kind to go to uni anyway, so they were just moving on into adulthood. She was frozen in the moment between childhood and adulthood, unable to move forward. It seemed that would change, though, most likely through the romance storyline.

The colours of the clothes on the concept sheet had been very bright and childish in two of the pictures, but more subdued in the third. Kyouko wondered if her colour palette would change over the course of the show as the character began her inexorable shift into her adult self.

"First of all, I need to find the initial Tomoe."

"What's that, Kyouko-chan?"

Kyouko jumped. She hadn't noticed the Okami-san entering her room. "Oh, nothing; just thinking aloud."

"OK. Here's your tea."

Kyouko bowed. "Thank you very much."

The Okami-san left her to it. Kyouko took a sip of the tea and then returned to the mirror. "She's quiet and shy, and yet she wears pants like this." Kyouko shook her head. She was missing something. Setsuka Heel had worn these shorts with confidence. She hadn't been putting on a show for anyone (except her brother): she simply hadn't cared if anyone ogled her legs or not. She wore the shorts because _she_ thought they were cute. But Tomoe wasn't that confident. Why did she wear similar shorts? How did she end up at a similar place if she came from a different direction?

Kyouko sighed. The exhalation of breath stirred the hair that was hanging in front of her face. _Hiding_ her face. She grinned. "That's it!" Tomoe is shy. She doesn't want people looking at her, but in particular she doesn't want people looking at her _face_. "It's a distraction. A mask. Her whole wardrobe is designed to take attention away from her face." Kyouko remembered once hearing a phrase in an English-language movie: 'The eyes are a window into the soul.' Not everyone wants other people looking into their soul.

This time when she slouched her upper body, she stood with a firm, confident stance from the waist-down. "Somehow it looks like a cowboy."

She tried again, this time turning her feet inwards in the cute stance she had seen some of the fashionistas using when posing for photographs in Harajuku. Or at least, she tried. "Now I look like a toddler who just peed her nappy."

She knelt at her kotatsu table and did an internet image search for Harajuku fashionistas on her cellphone while she drank the green tea. She studied their poses and then tried again.

Eventually she got it: A pose that let her upper body shrink inwards, but which had a pleasing, cute, attention-grabbing stance from the waist down. It hurt, actually. She had never realised before how much discomfort those girls put themselves through to make themselves so photogenic.

She then tried a variety of other casual, slouchy poses that drew attention to her legs: Knee bent, hip cocked out, foot up on a wall behind her, etc. She then tried all of the poses again with a more confident, upright upper body; if she was correct about Tomoe's development, over time she would need to convey how Tomoe was coming out of her shell and becoming more confident. A subtle shift in how she held her body would help show that development.

 _I think I have the basics in place. And I didn't even run to my sempai for advice this time!_

Kyouko was half out of the makeshift Tomoe outfit when her phone rang. She didn't think she would be able to answer the phone while wearing hot pants and a bra if it was Tsuruga-san or LME calling, for example, but instead she saw Kanae-san's name on the screen.

"Mouko-saaaan! Good evening!" she answered.

- _Good evening. Is this a good time?-_

 _"_ Sure, no problem." Kyouko awkwardly put the hoodie back on while holding the phone to her ear.

- _I'm calling because I've got news and I had to tell someone. I just got the call to say that I've been offered a role I auditioned for.-_

"Congratulations! That's awesome! What's the project called?"

-Aozora no Yume. _It's a summer drama._ -

Kyouko squealed. "Yes! That's the drama I have a part in! We're finally going to get to work together again. I'm so happy, Mouko-saaaaan!"

- _You're in it too? Who will you play?-_

"I'll be playing Takamatsu Tomoe."

- _I'll be playing Ooshima Ai.-_

"Oh! Really? Guess what? You'll be playing the little sister of Tsuruga-san's character!"

- _Really? I didn't know that.-_

"Yup! Actually, that's great casting because you're both tall and refined-looking."

Kanae-san snorted. - _We don't look anything alike. I don't have eyelid folds. He does, and his eyes are really deep-set too. Speaking of that, until I met him I used to think that he was one of those celebrities who'd had plastic surgery on his eyelids. You know, like Gackt. But they look natural. Do you know if he has foreign blood?-_

Kyouko frowned. Konoe-kantoku had once told her that Murasame-san had mocked Cain-niisan for having mixed blood and that had set Cain off. At the time Kyouko had thought the other part of what Murasame-san had said, the cold-blooded murderer part, was what had triggered his outburst, but what if it was actually the race thing after all? But the murderer part seemed so much more likely. All the other clues Kyouko had come across pointed to Tsuruga-san having lost someone in the past in a way that he felt responsible for, perhaps in a car accident. The way he'd reacted to his near-accident seemed almost conclusive, and then there was that stopped watch, and the things he'd said to Bo. It gave her chills thinking about it, so she usually didn't.

"No, I don't know," she said. "Eyelid folds aren't that uncommon. _I_ have little folds, and I'm as Japanese as can be." But the possibility niggled at her. It _would_ explain his height, after all. Kyouko grinned, imagining Tsuruga-san as a half-Japanese prince of a minor European country living in Japan to learn about the other half of his heritage. _I'm pretty sure that's the plot of a manga I once read._

"Anyway, I think Gackt just draws eyelid folds on with eyeliner," she said to move the conversation to safer ground. "His _nose_ , however ..."

 _-Wait a moment; Takamatsu Tomoe?-_ Kanae-san interrupted.

"Yup."

- _Are you working on another drama as well?-_

"No, why?"

- _But you were talking about being offered a love role. I didn't see anything in the scripts I read before the audition that indicated Takamatsu Tomoe has a love interest. There isn't a character in the drama in the right position for her to fall for.-_

Kyouko bit her lip. "We've only had the scripts for the first three episodes, though."

- _Ah, have you been given a preview of later episodes? Will a new character be introduced?-_

 _"_ I _really_ can't say anything at all, Mouko-san. I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't have called you that day. You're too smart. Please, please, when you see that character appear, try not to puzzle things out."

- _I can't promise that, Kyouko. If I figure it out, I figure it out. I won't be able to stop it.-_

"Well, OK, but if you do, please don't say anything. Mifune-kantoku has his reasons."

- _OK, if I figure it out I'll be quiet about it. I'll ask you in private, though.-_

 _"_ And I'll try my best not to answer you."

- _You'll fail. You know it. I'm your best friend, after all.-_

Kyouko giggled. "Yes, you are. I look forward to seeing you at the read-through, and hopefully before that too."

- _See you when I see you. Bye.-_

After hanging up her phone, Kyouko did a little dance of glee around her room. _I'll get to act with Mouko-san again!_

* * *

 **Next time: Who is Naomi, the lead actress of** _ **Aozora no Yume?**_ **Also, why is Kanae-san laughing at Tsuruga-san?**

* * *

 **I guess you can tell I don't like Shou. Apologies to any Shou supporters out there — I can't see him as anything but a manipulative, emotionally abusive jerk.**

 **I had to guess about the eyelid thing. It's so hard to tell from Nakamura-sensei's drawing style what the characters would look like in real life because everyone looks the same — eyelid folds for everyone! Which seems very unlikely. They shouldn't all be without them, either. There's more than one Japanese eye shape. I lived there for awhile and saw such a diversity of faces. So, yes, I think Ren/Kuon could get away with passing as full Japanese even with the occasionally deep eyelid folds as drawn by Nakamura-sensei. His eyes could at the same time be narrow and tilted enough for his Asian blood to be noticed by those strangely targeted racist bullies in America. That's how I'm rationalising all the conflicting signals, anyway.**

 **Nakamura-sensei has a very weird idea about how Americans see Japanese people, doesn't she? I'm always jolted out of the story when I reach those scenes. I mean, I'm not American, but I'm pretty sure most Californian teens are more likely to react with "You're half Japanese? Cool! Do you have a katana? Do you watch [insert anime here]?" than with "You're half-Japanese? Begone, scum of the Earth!"**

 **Enough moaning about Nakamura-sensei. Mostly I love her work. I do have a few concerns, though.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

 **Author's Note:**  
 _ **Skip Beat!**_ **and its characters belong to the creator Nakamura Yoshiki.** _**Skip Beat!**_ **is serialised in 'Hana to Yume' magazine (Hakusensha) and licensed in English by 'Shojo Beat' (VIZ Media, LLC).**

 **The work below is written in the spirit of fan appreciation.  
** **UK English has been used throughout.**

* * *

 **Yep, two chapters in one day. This chapter was so easy to write that I had it drafted before I'd finished revising chapter 5.**

* * *

Abe Naomi sat in the back of her manager Endou-san's car and scrolled through Twitter on her phone. Her Mentions were filled with congratulations for her new lead role in _Aozora no Yume_. In the privacy of the car she let herself grin at the thought of the upcoming filming.

"Have you had any further news about the new drama?" she asked her manager.

Endou-san, a man in his late twenties with a premature (but rather distinguished) silver forelock, made a small thinking noise. "I still haven't heard from costume or makeup about an appointment. I'm hoping to receive a call today. Oh, but I have had confirmation that Tsuruga Ren has accepted the role of Ooshima Kazufumi."

Naomi denied the satisfied smile that wanted to break out over her face. "Ah, that's good to know," she said.

A few minutes later, they pulled into the parking lot at Akatoki and Endou-san escorted her up to his office. They were there so that Endou-san could file some paperwork and so that Naomi could have a brief meeting with the head of acting about her upcoming contract renewal. The meeting was scheduled to start in half an hour.

"Please give me a few minutes. I need to drop off the files, and I don't want to bore you with all that. Can I get you anything while you wait?"

"No thanks, Endou-san. I'll be fine."

As soon as Endou-san left, Naomi whipped out her phone and called her best friend, Fumie-chan.

- _Moshi moshi,-_ answered the other actress.

"Hi, it's me. Guess what? Tsuruga Ren will be playing my love interest in the new drama!"

Fumie-chan squealed. - _Yes! Best result! Are you going to try to catch his eye?-_

"Of course. I've had a bit of a thing for him since we were in a drama together, oh, about three years ago. He's very popular now, too. He'd be a great catch if he was interested in me."

- _Hm.-_

"What? What are you thinking?"

- _I was just thinking about how his name has never been linked with any other stars. Do you think perhaps he's gay?-_

Naomi felt a small jolt of unease at the thought. "I don't care if he is, you know. There are plenty more handsome men in the business."

Fume-chan sighed. - _You should give actually falling for someone for real a go at some point. Men can provide so much more than just temporary fun._ -

"I'm sure they can. But I want to be the top actress in Japan, and until I get there, I don't have time for love. Fun, yes. Love, no." She almost believed her own words. Almost.

- _You'll get there in no time, I'm sure. Then you'll find some equally famous husband and have, like, five disgustingly cute children. I'm sure of it.-_

"What are you trying to do: jinx me?"

Fumie-chan laughed. - _Sorry. Actually, I've got to go. I'm about to film a scene. Good luck with the drama, and the man hunting.-_

"I'm not hunting, Fumie-chan! Just keeping an eye out for opportunities that fall into my lap. Good luck with the scene."

Naomi put her phone back in the pocket of her leather jacket and sighed. Fumie-chan always thought of men and romance first and foremost. Naomi didn't exactly not think about men, but her career was more important. She needed no one but herself, not really.

Oh, but having Tsuruga Ren close to hand would test her resolve to prioritise acting over men!

Naomi decided she was thirsty after all. She fished in her pocket, found some change, and left Endou-san's office in search of a vending machine. She found one near the elevator shafts and bought a bottle of green tea. Her way back was blocked by someone leaning against the wall.

"Naomi-chan, isn't it?" said the outrageously dressed bottle blond boy.

"Could you move?" she said.

"You know who I am, right? I'm Fuwa Shou."

She knew who he was. She just didn't care. "Move out of the way," she said slowly, as if to a partially deaf person.

"You should be nice to me. I'm the number 1 musician in Japan."

That was debatable as far as she was concerned. Naomi liked her music harder than this boy wrote. He wasn't even original; she could think of half a dozen visual kei artists he was ripping off.

Naomi stepped over his outstretched legs, trying to leave him behind and return to Endou-san's office. She narrowed her eyes when he grabbed her wrist. "Remove your hand from me or I will remove it for you. And toss it in the bin."

"Nice, I like a woman with spark." He stroked a thumb down her wrist. "You're very beautiful, you know. And talented. I have a proposition for you: how about we pool our resources. I'm single at the moment. We could date. We're both famous enough that we'd be able to increase each other's popularity."

Naomi wrenched her arm out of his grasp and finished stepping over his legs. "I'd rather stand under an elephant's hindquarters until it shat all over me," she said over her shoulder.

"You're making a mistake. Things are changing with my career right now. It can only get better from here. My popularity is growing all over Asia. I'm _huge_ in Singapore." His emphasis of the word 'huge' made it disgustingly clear he meant it as a double entendre.

"Kiddo, you're delusional if you think you can do anything for my career."

His face twisted. "Don't call me a kid. I'm eighteen."

"Oh, yay," she said. "Such a sure sign of maturity."

She walked away briskly and shut herself in Endou-san's office again. She locked the door and then kept an eye out for Endou-san through the glass panel. Something about that Fuwa kid's behaviour freaked her out a little. Other idiots had made propositions like that before. She had never been interested: fun with mutual benefits was one thing, but the idea of a faked relationship just for popularity's sake turned her stomach. She had always just shrugged off the propositions. This time, though, she wanted to get right away from the little shit in question.

She couldn't believe he was so popular. Had she encountered him on a bad day when he was particularly angry about something? Or was he always that creepy but no one else noticed? She felt sorry for any women who were or had been involved with him. He seemed like the type that would make their lives hell.

* * *

Ren stepped into the LoveMe section with Yashiro-san in tow. His eyes immediately scanned the room for a head of chestnut-coloured hair. He was briefly disappointed, but actually it wasn't Kyouko-chan that he was looking for.

"Good morning, Kotonami-san," he said.

"Kyouko's not here yet," said the girl with the long dark hair. "She'll be here this afternoon for a meeting with the online media manager."

"I was looking for you. I wanted to discuss the envelope you gave to Yashiro-san yesterday."

Kotonami-san put a hand on her hip. "There's no need to thank me, Tsuruga-san. Just buy her the goddamned dress."

Ren made sure the door was shut. He took a seat on the arm of the sofa then cleared his throat. "I appreciate you giving me those details, and I do think the dress suits her. But I can't buy it for her."

"Why not?" said both Kotonami-san and Yashiro-san at the same time.

"Because she wouldn't accept it."

"She's not that bad, you know," said Kotonami-san. "Sure, she'd protest that you shouldn't have bought her something. But she'd accept it in the end."

"No, really, she wouldn't." He cleared his throat a second time. "Do you remember when Kijima-san rented her a dress for the _Dark Moon_ wrap party?"

"Sure do. She made quite a stir. She was worried about not having anything decent to wear. _You_ should have thought to help her out."

"Well, I told her that when a man provides a woman with clothes to wear, it's because he wants something."

Kotonami-san and Yashiro-san both gave him blank looks.

"You know, like her body."

Perhaps the looks weren't blank; perhaps they were frozen instead.

"What else was I supposed to do? That's exactly what Kijima was aiming for. He's a playboy of the highest order. She had no idea of the situation she'd got herself into."

Kotonami-san stumbled away from the seating area to the locker bank. She propped herself up with one hand. A moment later, her bright pink-clad shoulders began to shake. Then they shook harder, and small muffled squeaks emanated from her direction.

Ren frowned at her back, then looked at his manager. Yashiro-san had his fist jammed into his mouth and there were tears of mirth literally running down his cheeks.

"You're both laughing way too much." He gave Yashiro-san his brightest smile to show that he wasn't bothered (although he was).

Kotonami-san turned around. She too had tears running down her cheeks. "You shot yourself in the foot," she said.

He smiled at her too. "Perhaps."

Kotonami-san's eyes widened and she took a step back.

 _What kind of reaction was that?_ wondered Ren. Was his annoyance showing on his face despite himself? He looked up at the ceiling and counted to ten. When he looked back down again, Kotonami-san and Yashiro-san were giving each other knowing looks.

"I never realised the great Tsuruga Ren was this much of a chump," said Kotonami-san. "You do a fantastic job of preserving his reputation."

"Thank you very much for the recognition, Kotonami-san. I _do_ have to work pretty hard to hide how much of a clueless dork he is."

"I'm right here, you know."

Kotonami-san opened her locker and rummaged in her bag. Then she held out several 1000 yen notes to Ren. "Here you are," she said.

Ren looked at the money in her hand. "What's that for?"

She rolled her eyes. "Just because you're too chicken to let her know about your feelings, doesn't means she should go without. She _deserves_ that dress. Take this money, buy her the dress, and say it's from both of us. We can say it's a friendly congratulations from her friends for getting another role sans audition."

Since when did Kotonami-san know about his feelings? Was he _that_ obvious?

Yashiro-san also held out a small wad of money. "Add me too."

"What's going on?" said a voice by the door.

They all jumped and looked towards the door. Luckily it was Amamiya-san, not Kyouko-chan, who had caught them.

"We're pooling our money to buy Kyouko that dress we saw at Venus Fort," said Kotonami-san.

"Oooh! Count me in. I spotted it, after all." Amamiya-san also dug out her wallet. "I only have 3000 yen on me, though. That's only a small portion of the price."

"That's OK," said Kotonami-san. "Tsuruga-san is going to pay the lion's share since he's the rich sempai with the Porche and the lucrative modelling contract. Don't ever tell Kyouko that he put in the most, though. It's a secret."

"OK. Sounds fair."

Ren took all the offered money and slid it into his wallet. "Thanks, everyone. I'll order the dress as soon as I can. I'll also get a card for us all to sign."

"We're counting on you," said Kotonami-san. "Whatever you do, get the right one in the right size."

How rare it was to have a junior actress ordering him around like that. He hoped she was more polite on set with other actors who actually cared about being respected by their kouhais.

"Your instructions were very clear, Kotonami-san. I'm sure even a _chump_ like me can handle it."

* * *

 **Next time: Kyouko runs into her Muse and is thrilled to find out who will help her with her YouTube videos.**

* * *

 **Sorry to inflict Shou on you two chapters in a row, but I thought he would be the best character to bring out certain parts of my OC Naomi's personality.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

 **Author's Note:**  
 _ **Skip Beat!**_ **and its characters belong to the creator Nakamura Yoshiki.** _**Skip Beat!**_ **is serialised in 'Hana to Yume' magazine (Hakusensha) and licensed in English by 'Shojo Beat' (VIZ Media, LLC).**

 **The work below is written in the spirit of fan appreciation.  
** **UK English has been used throughout.**

* * *

"Muse-sama!"

Kyouko had just finished changing into her LoveMe overalls and emerged from behind the curtain when Jelly Woods stepped into the LoveMe section.

"Kyouko-chan! Long time no see! Drop the 'sama', though, would you?"

Kyouko grinned at the immaculately coiffured diminutive woman. "It's good to see you."

Jelly Woods gestured at Amamiya-san and Kanae-san, who sat at the table eyeing the new arrival with interest. "Would you introduce me?"

Kyouko introduced Jelly Woods to the other LoveMe girls, and vice versa.

" _The_ Jelly Woods?" said Kanae-san. "This is an honour. How do you know each other?"

"I can't say," said Kyouko.

At the same time, Jelly Woods said, "Through a top secret job."

"Muse-sama, please," whispered Kyouko. "I'm not supposed to talk about that at all."

"Ah. The 'Something dangerous' job the president gave you at the same time as he gave us our last LoveMe jobs?" asked Amamiya-san.

Kyouko remained silent. She wasn't sure she could say anything at all. Her friends were so smart she was sure that if she said one word, they would figure out the whole _Tragic Marker_ secret.

Jelly Woods snorted, then laughed. "Something _dangerous_? That's how Darling described the job? Does _he_ know Darling described him that way?"

"Ah, no, the topic never came up." Kyouko blushed. She understood the track that Jelly Woods' thoughts had gone along. She'd never before considered that the job might have been called 'Something dangerous' because of all the time she'd spent alone with Tsuruga-san. Rather, she had always thought the 'dangerous' had referred to the Heel siblings' personalities. Somehow she was embarrassed on Tsuruga-san's behalf. He was better behaved than that.

"Wait, did you use 'sama' again?" asked Jelly Woods. "Really! You're as bad as Ren-chan."

Kyouko bowed. "I'm sorry, Muse-s— Muse."

"That's all right." Jelly Woods took a seat at the table. "I found your message on my phone. I have to say, Kyouko-chan, it was rather garbled. Luckily I saw Ren-chan yesterday and he asked if you'd called me yet. From what he said, I kinda knew what you were going to ask."

"Did she just call Tsuruga-san 'Ren-chan'?" whispered Amamiya-san to Kanae-san.

"I'm sorry to bother you, Muse, for something so trivial," said Kyouko.

"Not at all, Kyouko-chan! Really, actresses have to be confident about their looks. I think it's important for your development to think about these things. I thought that the tricks I taught you for that job would have helped."

Kyouko took a seat at the table. "But that was her, not me."

"It _was so_ you. I couldn't have made just anyone look that sexy and cute." She tapped one manicured nail on her lips. "You LoveMe girls are Darling's favourites, so I've thought before that I want to do something to help you all out. How about this? You can all come over to my salon one day and I will demonstrate some makeup and fashion tips for you that will help you in your careers, particularly dressing for interviews and television appearances where you won't have a costume to wear. What do you say? It can be a mini LoveMe project."

"Us too?" asked Amamiya-san.

"Yep, of course. It's not fair to show Kyouko-chan favouritism just because I've happened to work with her in the past."

"Oh my God, yes!" said Kanae-san. "Yes please!"

Kyouko had never seen her best friend that worked up before. Jelly Woods was clearly an even bigger deal than Kyouko had realised.

"Well, OK then. I'll sort out a time with your manager and have an appointment sent through the normal channels." She stood and waved at them. "I've got to go. I'm meeting Darling for lunch. See you later!"

The three girls stood stunned in her wake.

"She's like a whirlwind of energy," said Amamiya-san.

"She's _so much smaller_ than I thought she would be," said Kanae-san.

"Did you hear that, or was it just me? She seriously called Tsuruga-san 'Ren-chan' like he's a little kid. Unless she meant another Ren. How old is she? She looks our age at the most."

"I heard it. And who is 'Darling'? She said we're her Darling's favourites."

Kyouko coughed. "She means Takarada-shachou."

"What?!" said both the other girls.

Kanae-san shuddered. "Even though she must be older than she looks, somehow that seems like too big an age gap."

Kyouko shook her head. "I don't think the President has any idea that Muse-sama has feelings for him. Despite how obvious she is."

The others stared at her.

"You mean, the no. 1 love promoter in the entire world is too much of a love idiot to figure out that the woman calling him 'Darling' has feelings for him?" said Kanae-san.

They all stared at each other for a few seconds, then burst out laughing.

* * *

"See this button over here: that's how you follow other Twitter accounts. You don't have to follow every account that follows you. But if you do follow lots and can't keep up with your Twitter feed, you can organise your favourites into lists like this ..."

They were visiting Yamamoto-san, the online media manager. Kanae-san and Kyouko had each been given crash courses in how to use Tumblr and YouTube, respectively. Kyouko hadn't been shown much about YouTube yet, because apparently someone else would be uploading the videos for her, and that person hadn't yet arrived.

Kyouko and Kanae-san sat on chairs against the wall out of the way while Amamiya-san absorbed all she could about Twitter. They had both been poking around on their brand new smartphones and investigating the features that were new to them. They'd all been asked what type of phones they wanted. Kanae-san had apparently asked for an iPhone because she had one of the new rose gold models. The only time Kyouko had ever touched a smartphone was when she had watched the meal videos on Tsuruga-san's phone. Because his was an Android phone, she'd asked for the same. She'd been given a shiny bright blue one. She smiled and ran a finger over the back. It was one of the blues that the Corn stone sometimes became in certain lights.

"I still can't believe you know Jelly Woods," said Kanae-san. "And I also can't believe she calls Tsuruga-san 'Ren-chan'. That's just hilarious."

"She sometimes calls him 'that kid' or 'that brat' as well. It really stunned me the first time I heard it. I get the sense that she's been his stylist since he entered the industry."

"How did he wing that? She was a big deal even then."

"I don't know."

"Speaking of that guy, I saw it: a code orange."

Kyouko swivelled in her seat. "Aimed at who?"

"Aimed at _me._ "

"Oh, Mouko-san. What did you do?"

"I laughed at him."

"What's this?" asked Amamiya-san, who had stepped away from the computer.

"Have you finished?" asked Kanae-san.

"Yep."

"I'll be back in a moment," said Yamamoto-san. "Talk amongst yourselves." She left the office.

"So, what's this 'code orange' thing?"

"It's something Kyouko once told me about Tsuruga-san. I didn't believe her until I saw it for myself. When I said that he doesn't seem to get mad about anything, she said he does but he usually looks different from most people when they're mad. Code yellow is when he smiles super politely, code orange is when he smiles so much he seems to sparkle, and code red is when he finally drops the smile and looks angry."

"I think of them as the gentlemanly smile, the sparkling smile, and the Demon Lord," elaborated Kyouko.

"Haha, you're making that up," said Amamiya-san.

"Am not," said Kyouko. "Was he really at the sparkling stage?" she asked Kanae-san.

"Yes. It was exactly as you described. If you hadn't told me what that look meant I would have just thought 'Why is he smiling at me?' Instead, I got a bit scared and then bluffed my way through the rest of the conversation."

Kyouko was about to ask what the conversation had been about when the door opened and a little bundle of frills and curls torpedoed into the room.

"Onee-san!" cried Maria-chan as she threw herself into Kyouko's arms.

"Maria-chan! What are you doing here?"

The little girl sat on Kyouko's lap, plucked her new cellphone out of her hand, and started poking around on the screen. "I'm here for the meeting, of course."

"She doesn't know that part yet, Maria," said the president, who for once had entered a room unnoticed.

"Here: smile!" said Maria-chan as she pushed her face up beside Kyouko's.

Kyouko smiled automatically. Her phone made a camera shutter sound. "Did you just take a selfie of us?"

"Yep. Look!" Maria-chan handed the phone back to Kyouko and then hopped down from her lap. Not only had Maria-chan taken a selfie of the two of them, she had also set it as the home screen wallpaper.

"Cute!" cried Kyouko. Maria-chan was super photogenic. Even though it was a cell phone selfie, she looked fantastic. Kyouko thought her own face looked gormless, but she hadn't had a lot of warning.

"Mogami-kun: Your assistant for your LoveMe job will be Maria-chan."

Kyouko looked at the little girl who stood looking at her expectantly. "Maria-chan!? Really?"

"Yep!" said Maria-chan. She dropped into a curtsy. "Please look after me."

"Do you know how to upload videos?"

"Yamamoto-san is going to teach me. I'm also going to be filming your videos for you."

"Your LoveMe job will double up as a homework assignment for Maria," said the President. "She has to do a creative project for school, and she said she wanted to try a video project. That's why on paper your job looks bigger than the other two girls'. You're only responsible for half of it."

"I want to be a director one day," said Maria. "Everyone has to start somewhere; I want to start with an online video series. You'll help me, won't you, Onee-san?"

"Of course!" said Kyouko. "You'll make a fantastic director."

"Of course I will. I'll make movies with female leads who are amazing, and no one tells them 'You're good at that, for a _girl,_ ' and they won't act just like men with boobs, and they won't forget all their skills by the end of the movie and need to be rescued by a man, they'll be competent right up until the end and save the day, and my movies will be awesome!"

"You show them, Maria-chan!" said Kyouko.

"If you make movies like that, we'll be lining up to be cast in them," said Kanae-san. "I'm already sick of playing weak characters just 'coz I'm female. And Kyouko only gets to play strong characters because they're the villains."

Over at the computer, Yamamoto-san snorted. "You girls are going to revolutionise the Japanese entertainment industry," she said. "I can't wait. Now, Maria-chan, come over here and I'll show you how to upload to YouTube."

* * *

"A makeup review video series."

"Too common. No."

"A doll making video series."

"You want to do that in your own time, that's fine with me. But it's too off-topic for a LoveMe job."

"Um, sewing?"

"No."

"But it could be about sewing costumes. It's not that far off topic."

"No. The end-product of sewing may be interesting, but the process is like watching grass grow."

"A one-actress drama about a magical princess."

"NO."

Kyouko sighed. She was scraping the bottom of the barrel now. "A cooking show."

The president stroked his moustache. Worrying lights lit up in his eyes. "Yes. I can see it. A cooking show with celebrity guests. You cook something with an actor or talent, and while things are baking or simmering or whatever you interview them."

"Ah, Takarada-shachou, how would I get guests?"

"By _asking_ them, of course. People you work with, people at LME. You'd interview them informally, and show a different side of them than the polished interviews they usually do. People will want to watch your videos to get a more intimate view of your guests than they usually get to see."

Kyouko held up a restraining hand. "Ah, this idea is snowballing somewhat. That seems like a really big deal. It'll need special equipment."

"You can use the kitchens at the mansion. That way, Maria doesn't need to take her computer and other equipment out of the house."

"It'll need ingredients."

"I have a few friends who own restaurant chains. I'm sure they will give you a small budget if we ask them to sponsor the show."

Kyouko looked at Maria-chan. "What do you think?" She hoped the little girl would think it was too much and ask for something simpler. Unfortunately for Kyouko, Maria-chan's eyes were alight in a similar way as her grandfather's.

"I love it. The kitchen would make a great stage because of the windows. We'd be able to get away with simple lighting and still get a good video. And we'd get to meet heaps of interesting people and eat lots of Onee-san's cooking. Ren-sama told me you're a fantastic cook!"

Tsuruga-san told Maria-chan about her cooking?

"Oh!" continued Maria-chan. "We could have Ren-sama as a guest!"

"No," said the president.

"Why not?" Maria pouted.

"Because that guy's so famous right now that Mogami-kun would get her 1000 followers right away. An important part of the LoveMe job for Mogami-kun will be finding and inviting guests to the show. It's no point if she doesn't have to do that."

"She'd still have to ask Ren-sama."

"Like he'd ever turn her down," muttered the president.

"Plus, Maria-chan," said Kyouko, "Tsuruga-san is potentially the world's worst cook. He's truly terrible. Do you want his fans to find that out about him?"

"I ... didn't know that. I guess not."

"I personally don't mind if that guy does show a few flaws," said the president. "Sometimes he's so perfect that his potential fans get put off. How about this: If the channel doesn't have 1000 followers by the ninth video, then for the tenth you can ask Ren."

"Yay!" cried Maria-chan.

"Right: moving on. Amamiya-kun, what are your ideas?"

Amamiya-san ran through a long line of ideas, mostly involving critiquing things: critiquing shows, critiquing acting, critiquing fashion choices.

"No, no, no, Amamiya-kun," said the president after he sad no to the sixth idea. "Your ideas are all so negative. I want you to avoid that impulse."

"How about 'Overheard at LME'? I've seen a few accounts like that on Twitter."

The president thought about it for a moment. "The idea isn't original, but it must be harder to do something original in such a short space. Plus, the things you'd be hearing _will_ be original because there are so many strong personalities here at LME."

 _Says the strongest personality of them all,_ thought Kyouko.

"I agree," said the president. "But! You can't say who said which quote. Keep people guessing. That also means you can post more interesting quotes, because no one will know who said them." He leaned back in his chair. "That's a good idea, Amamiya-kun; well done. Your status as an outsider within LME makes you an interesting 'spy', and you'll have to talk to lots of people to have the opportunity to get quotes.

"Now: Kotonami-kun. Let's hear your ideas."

"LME fashion. Pictures of well-dressed people I spot around the building. I'll ask them for the brands of the clothing they're wearing and post it beneath the photos."

The president grinned. "Perfect first time, Kotonami-kun. Well done. That's a great idea. It'll be interesting for followers, and you'll have to talk to lots of people and make lots of connections to do it." He sat up straight. "Well, it looks like you all have the beginnings of your assignments. Over the next few days Yamamoto-san will help each of you set up the online accounts. Until then, spend some time thinking about exactly how you will want to approach your assignment."

The three LoveMe girls stood and bowed to the president.

Kyouko sighed as she left the president's office. She didn't even know where to _start._

* * *

 **Next time: It's time for the round-table read through of the first episode of** _ **Aozora no Yume**_ **. What will Kyouko think of her cast mates, and what will they think of her?**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

 **Author's Note:**

 _ **Skip Beat!**_ **and its characters belong to the creator Nakamura Yoshiki.** _**Skip Beat!**_ **is serialised in 'Hana to Yume' magazine (Hakusensha) and licensed in English by 'Shojo Beat' (VIZ Media, LLC).**

 **The work below is written in the spirit of fan appreciation.**

 **UK English has been used throughout.**

* * *

 **Sorry it took me a while to post this chapter. I was unwell over the last week and so it took me longer to write than I expected. I'll try to let you know ahead of time if there's going to be a bigger than normal gap between chapters, but I won't always have notice. I'm still not feeling the best, so the next chapter will probably be late too.**

 **Thank you again to everyone who has left me reviews. I'm still getting the hang of this website, and I'm not sure if I should be replying to the reviews or not, but I am reading all your lovely comments, so thank you :)**

* * *

Kyouko stopped inside the threshold and paused. She briefly gripped the Corn stone purse in her pocket, plastered on a smile, and stepped further into the meeting room to meet the other cast members of _Aozora no Yume_.

She knew very few people in the room so her eyes immediately sought out the one who she knew best. Tsuruga-san stood near the head of the room talking to a beautiful young woman. Kyouko had seen her before on TV: Naomi, the lead actress of the series. She was taller than Kyouko, with brown-dyed hair that fell to her shoulder blades. She wore a leather biker jacket over skinny jeans and fashionable boots. She was also very clearly flirting with Tsuruga-san. Kyouko felt a brief pang that she quickly shoved down into her subconscious. _It's only natural that he'd have women like that flirting with him. It's not surprising at all._

She nodded and said 'ohayo gozaimasu' to the other people in the room — they would all be introduced formally very soon — and headed over to say hello to her sempai. He spotted her as she approached and his polite smile grew broader.

"Good morning, Mogami-san," he said.

"Good morning, Tsuruga-sempai."

"This is Naomi-san who will be playing Takamatsu Rina. Naomi-san, this is Kyouko from LME. She will be playing Takamatsu Tomoe."

Kyouko suppressed a little shudder of intense feeling at hearing her given name on his lips without an honorific. _Don't be stupid! He's just introducing you as an ingroup member to an outgroup person. It's your own fault for using your given name as your full acting name!_

"Nice to meet you," said Naomi-san. "So you're my little sister for the next few months, huh?"

Kyouko blinked. Naomi-san was wearing implausibly bright blue contacts, more royal blue than anything else. It was an interesting look.

She bowed. "It's nice to meet you, Naomi-san. Please take care of me*."

"Please take care of me also." Naomi-san turned back to Tsuruga-san. "She's your kouhai at your agency?"

"That's right," he said. He smiled at Kyouko, and she smiled back.

When she glanced at Naomi-san, she saw the other woman giving her a considering look.

"I bet all the girls at LME go to you for acting advice," Naomi-san said to Tsuruga-san with a slow smile.

He returned her one of his polite business smiles. "Funnily enough, no. Apparently I intimidate people. But Mogami-san here has worked with me before on _Dark Moon_ so we know each other well."

"Oh, really? She doesn't look familiar. Who did you play, Kyouko-san?"

"Um, I played Hongo Mio."

Naomi-san's jaw dropped. "No way! Really? You don't look anything like her!"

Tsuruga-san chuckled. "That's her special talent. Speaking of different, is this for the role?" He reached out and flicked Kyouko's hair.

She self-consciously smoothed her hair back down. She still wasn't used to the new dye job. The under layer of her hair had been dyed by the show's stylist back to its natural black while the top had been left as her preferred chestnut. "Yep. The stylist dyed it yesterday. It will look great with Takamatsu Tomoe's wardrobe." She gave a small laugh. "I'm still trying to figure out how to fit the new look in with my own wardrobe, though."

"It looks cool," said Naomi-san. "I like it."

"What happened to your hair?" said a voice behind Kyouko.

She spun. "Mouko-san! Good morning! This is my new dye job for my new character. What do you think?"

Kanae-san ruffled her fingers through Kyouko's hair. "Hm," she said.

Kyouko giggled. "That tickles!"

"It's a bit tougher than your usual look. I think you can work with it, though. But don't you still have a few _Box-R_ scenes left to film?"

"Only the 'after graduation' scenes. I need to wear a wig for that anyway, because Natsu will have long hair in the future, so it's perfectly fine."

Kanae-san looked over Kyouko's shoulder. "Ah, Tsuruga-san. Good morning."

"Morning, Kotonami-san." He then introduced Kanae-san and Naomi-san to each other.

Naomi-san had just started to inquire about what projects Kanae-san had been in when the director called them all to attention and asked them to take their seats. Kyouko found her nameplate next to Naomi-san's. On her other side was an older woman called Watanabe Yuiko. Across from Naomi-san sat Tsuruga-san, and beside him was Kanae-san. The other actors were arrayed down the table, apparently grouped into on-screen families if applicable.

"Thank you all for coming," said Mifune-kantoku. "Ah, I see someone hasn't arrived yet."

Kyouko craned her neck and saw an empty spot further down the table, but she wasn't able to read the nameplate.

"Well, we're on a tight schedule, so let's start anyway. I'm Mifune Ryou, the director. I'm sure you all remember me. I hope so, anyway. This is the round-table reading of the first episode of _Aozora no Yume._ I'm looking forward to making this project with you. Since this is the first time many of you have met, how about we go around the table and each of you can say who you are, who your character is, and what the last project you worked on was? Would you like to start, Naomi-san?"

Naomi-san stood. "Nice to meet you. I'm Naomi from Akatoki. I'll be playing Takamatsu Rina. My last project was the movie _Resistance_. Please take care of me." She gave a quick bow and sat down again.

Kyouko stood. Since Naomi-san had used her industry name and clearly not her full name, Kyouko decided to do the same. "Nice to meet you. I'm Kyouko from LME. I'll be playing Takamatsu Tomoe. My last project was the show _Box-R_. Please take care of me."

Next, the woman beside her started speaking. "Nice to meet you. I'm Watanabe Yuiko. I'll be playing Takamatsu Chieko. My last—"

CRASH.

Everyone turned to look at the door. Someone hunched there with their hands on their knees while they gasped for breath.

"I'm so sorry I'm late. There was a crash, traffic jam. I'm really sorry!"

Kyouko knew that voice. She glanced at Tsuruga-san and saw that he'd recognised the voice too. His lips had thinned slightly. Kyouko looked back at the man, and her stomach sank. She was right.

It was Taira Murasame.

"That's all right, Murasame-san," said Mifune-kantoku. "We've only just started introductions. Please take a seat."

The introductions continued. Kyouko tried her best not to flinch when Murasame-san gave his introduction ("I'm playing Sasaki Daiichi. My last project was the movie _Tragic Marker_.")

It was only when Kanae-san was giving her introduction that Kyouko remembered that Tsuruga-san no doubt had something other than Murasame-san recognising his voice to be worried about. He couldn't say _Tragic Marker_ was his last main project, and if he said _Dark Moon_ people would wonder about the big gap. He had nothing else to say because ever since _Tragic Marker_ had finished he'd only been filming small guest roles while he waited for the next TV season to roll around since his role in _Tragic Marker_ had finished at an awkward time.

He stood up, looking as far the opposite of nervous as was possible. "Nice to meet you. I'm Tsuruga Ren from LME. I'll be playing Ooshima Kazufumi." He smiled one of his gentlemanly smiles, the one that scrambled the brains of the unaware. "May I just say that I'm looking forward to working with you all on this exciting project. And thank you Mifune-kantoku for giving me this opportunity to play a character quite different from ones I've played before." He bowed and sat down.

"What a lovely sentiment. I agree," said Watanabe-san. She had the shiny-eyed look of a woman who had been utterly charmed by Tsuruga-san's gentlemanly persona.

No one seemed to notice that he hadn't said what his last major project had been.

"Thank you very much, everyone," said Mifune-kantoku. "Now, would you all like to turn to page 1 of the script? I'd like to start with one complete read-through, with feedback after each scene. Then we can make any necessary adjustments and re-read problematic scenes."

Kyouko didn't have many lines in the first episode; or rather, she didn't have many lines in the 'main' script that they were working with that day. She had received a smaller script for a secret scene: Tomoe meeting Kazufumi for a second time at her part-time job at a convenience store after meeting him initially while walking on the beach with her sister Rina. Apparently they would be filming that scene with a batch of other 'meet at the convenience store' scenes for other episodes on a late filming night.

She read through a family breakfast scene early in the script. Kyouko had never had the kind of family breakfast that was described: the three women of the family (the father was deceased) working together to prepare the meal then sitting together at a Western-style table and having a free and easy conversation while they ate. Breakfast with the Okami-san and the Taisho was always slightly tense for Kyouko because despite how nice they were to her, she always felt a little like she was intruding. Instead, she used the breakfast she had shared with Kuu-sensei when she was pretending to be Kuon as a model for her behaviour.

Naomi was excellent as the energetic daughter, and Watanabe-san sounded convincingly frazzled as an overworked solo mother.

"Kyouko-san," said Mifune-kantoku. "I'd like Tomoe to sound a bit less energetic when you act that scene. She isn't really a morning person, so she's still not fully awake."

Kyouko bowed in her seat. _I got the first major criticism of the read-through! How embarrassing!_ "Understood. Thank you for the feedback," she said, hoping she wasn't betraying her mortification.

"And Watanabe-san, Chieko doesn't need to sound that frazzled. She may well have been when she was younger, but now that her daughters are old enough to be mostly self-sufficient, even though one still hasn't left home and the other has just moved back home, they aren't that much of a burden on her anymore."

Watanabe-san also bowed. "Understood, director."

Kyouko felt a little better. Perhaps the director was just very thorough and everyone would be getting feedback.

For a while after that scene, Kyouko could sit back and listen as the other actors, mostly Naomi-san, worked through the following scenes. Naomi-san was very good. Even without body language as a guide, her expressive voice conveyed her emotions well as Rina started to put her life back together after a breakup, adjust to being at the family home again, and start a new online business, all at the same time. Kyouko found herself admiring both the character and the actor immensely.

Tsuruga-san's first scene was the one in which Kazufumi and Rina run into each other for the first time, literally, and annoy one another. The way they read it made it sound like the typical 'meet cute' scene in a romance drama.

"I'd like you both to be a little colder to each other when we film this scene," said Mifune-kantoku when they had finished reading.

The next scene had Rina being bullied a bit by Murasame-san's character, who had apparently been Rina's enemy in High School. Just as with the _Tragic Marker_ shoot, Murasame-san did a good job.

Shortly after, Kyouko read another scene. It was the beach walk scene where Tomoe meets Kazufumi for the first time and Rina meets him for the second time. Kazufumi and Rina fight again, and Tomoe just watches. Kyouko was rather nervous about how to stay in character during the scene without giving away anything that was still a secret. She knew that the scene was actually a future couple meeting for the first time, but most of the people in the room didn't know that yet. Thankfully it would be the looks that the characters give each other that would be the real clue, and since they were only doing a read-through, Kyouko decided to keep her eyes down on the script as if she didn't have the scene fully memorised yet rather than look up at Tsuruga-san and possibly give the game away. She could only assume that during filming the director would limit how many people would be on set so that she and Tsuruga-san could deliver sufficiently 'interested' looks.

"Come on, let's go," said Naomi-san as Rina.

Kyouko knew that she would give one last look over her shoulder when she acted the scene for real. This time, she went straight on to her next line.

"You weren't very nice to that guy, Nee-chan."

"He wasn't very nice to me, either!"

"Yeah, but you probably want to be on good terms with the guys who work at the beach cafes. That's how you get free stuff." Kyouko paused in her delivery. "Plus, he's not bad on the eyes."

"That's just another strike against him! All those pretty boys are far too stuck up to be worth spending any time on. I have a policy of not bothering myself with any man who spends more time in front of the bathroom mirror than me, you know."

Naomi-san gave Tsuruga-san an apologetic look and a small seated bow for the words her character just unleashed on him. Tsuruga-san smiled and waved the apology away.

"Nice work," said Mifune-kantoku. "Tsuruga-san, Naomi-san, you were both sufficiently cold to each other this time. Kyouko-san, am I correct in supposing you don't have any sisters?"

"Ah, that's right, director."

"I felt like you were too formal with Rina. Tomoe isn't that formal. She's far more laid back. I think part of your problem there is not having the correct experience to map the interaction on. Sometime in the next week, do you think you could arrange to visit a friend who has an older sister and see how they interact in real life?"

Kyouko looked at Kanae-san. "Um, I don't want to be a bother, but ..."

"... I'm the only friend you have who has an older sister?"

Kyouko nodded.

"I'll talk to my sister and see if it's OK to invite you over for dinner one day this week. How's that?"

"Thank you!"

"Well, that was easy to sort," said the director. "Thank you, Kanae-san. Now, let's move on to the next scene."

* * *

It took them close to two hours to read the 45-minute script even without acting out any of the silent parts of the episode. As soon as the director announced the end of the meeting, Murasame-san shot up out of his chair and began apologising to everyone for being late.

 _If only I'd been able to do that when I was late for the_ Box-R _read-through,_ thought Kyouko.

He approached the director first, then Tsuruga-san. Kyouko held her breath and watched the exchange out the corner of her eye as she put her script back in her bag, but everything seemed to go fine. Then Murasame-san approached her side of the table.

"Naomi-san and Kyouko-san, was it? I'm Taira Murasame. I'm so sorry about being late." He bowed.

"That's quite all right," said Naomi-san.

"Yes, it's no problem, Taira-san." Kyouko couldn't remember if she had ever called Murasame-san by his name to his face while acting as Setsuka Heel, but if she had, she thought he would be less likely to recognise her voice if she used his family name instead, although no one else seemed to be doing so.

He didn't seem to give Kyouko a second look or pay her any other special attention before he moved on to his next apology. Kyouko breathed out a slow relieved breath.

"Ah, I enjoyed that," said Watanabe-san. "I think the two of you young ladies are going to be lovely pretend daughters over the next few months."

"Please take care of us, pretend mother," said Naomi-san with a half-bow.

Kyouko also bowed. "Please take care of me, both of you. I'm looking forward to working with you."

Watanabe-san handed a business card to each of them. "I think the three of us should get together for lunch sometime before filming starts. If we get to know each other a little first it will be easier for us to portray a family on screen. Please contact me and let me know when you are free."

Kyouko bowed as she received the business card and bade Watanabe-san farewell as she left. She then turned to Naomi-san to say goodbye to her as well, but saw that the woman's attention was fixed on something behind Kyouko. She turned around and saw that both Tsuruga-san and Kanae-san were approaching them.

"Mou, Kyouko, don't you know you've effectively bullied me into spending an evening at the madhouse?" said Kanae-san.

"I'm sorry, Mouko-san! But I really, really can't think of anyone else who has a big sister, and definitely not someone who is a girl about my age."

Kanae-san sighed. "It's OK. I'll just make you help with the chores that will inevitably come my way."

"OK!"

"Hey, hey; don't you realise I'm threatening to make you do, like, four loads of washing or something?"

"I do remember what you family's house is like." Kyouko smiled at her best friend. To her, any amount of chores would be worth witnessing the flood of love that would be poured on her best friend as soon as she stepped in the house.

"I've got to go now, but I'll get in touch." Kanae-san waved to them all and left.

"So, Tsuruga-san," said Naomi-san. "It was good to see you in action again. How long has it been since we last did a read-through together? Three years?" She smiled up at him.

Tsuruga-san smiled in return, but only his polite smile. "About that, I think."

Kyouko stood rooted to the spot in horror. It was happening: the social awkwardness of being with a group, and that group suddenly becoming a trio, and the intense feeling that she was the third wheel and needed to leave, but she had no good excuse ...

 _Argh! s_ he cried on the inside. She didn't want to stand there watching a talented actress flirt with Tsuruga-san, all the while being ignored. It wasn't the same as before the read-through when she had been greeting her sempai as was good and correct. Now it was awkward to the extreme. But how could she exit the area naturally?

Just when she was beginning to break out in a nervous sweat, she was saved by Mifune-kantoku. "May I have a word?" he said to her quietly from behind.

Kyouko followed him over to the head of the room. He passed her a small card with a time on it. "This evening, back here," he said. "We will have another small read-through of just the extra scene. OK?"

Kyouko looked at the time. "Understood, director. I'll be here." She bowed to Mifune-kantoku and then used the excuse of finishing that conversation to leave the room. As she did so, she glanced at Tsuruga-san and Naomi-san again. He was still wearing the polite smile, but he didn't seem awkward or put off by the conversation he was having, either. An idea struck Kyouko like lightning: What if he was actually _unaware_ that he was being flirted with? _Surely not_ , she thought. _He's The Tsuruga Ren. He must have heaps of experience with this._

Just before she looked away, he caught her eye and gave her a quick smile. She smiled in return and waved at him before leaving the meeting room and heading off for her next appointment of the day.

* * *

Kyouko was on autopilot on her way out of the TBM building, still mulling over the meeting and the interactions she had seen there.

"..ouko-san. Kyouko-san?"

She felt a hand on her elbow and nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Momose-san!" she cried when she saw who had stopped her. "Long time no see! How have you been?"

The other teen actress bobbed her head in a quick bow. "I've been fine. Are you OK, Kyouko-san? You looked kind of spaced out."

"I'm sorry," said Kyouko with a bow. "I was thinking about work."

"Speaking of work, I saw you in _Box-R_. Great job!"

Kyouko blushed. "Thank you, Momose-san. I really like your new drama too."

"You know, we should catch up," said Momose-san. "Let's go get coffee or something one time when we're both free. What do you think?"

Kyouko froze.

"Are you sure you're OK?"

"Oh!" said Kyouko belatedly. "I have an idea, Momose-san!"

* * *

Naomi lay in the back of the car while Endou-san drove her to her next appointment, a magazine interview being held at Akatoki. She preferred to lie down if they were going to be driving through areas of town with lots of traffic lights and foot traffic, particularly if there were a lot of young people who may recognise her among the pedestrians. She flicked through the script, mulling over the advice she had received that day and making adjustments to her mental perception of her character.

She was knocked out of her reverie by the sound of her phone ringing. The screen said it was Fumie-chan calling. "Do you mind if I take this?" she asked.

"Go ahead," said Endou-san. "I won't pay attention."

"Moshi moshi," she answered.

- _It's me,-_ said Fumie-chan.

"Hiya. What's up?"

- _I'm just calling to see how the script read-through went.-_

"It went well. The director's pretty thorough and he gave lots of feedback."

- _Better too much than too little, huh?-_

 _"_ That's right."

- _Heheh._ -

Naomi paused. She could practically hear the cogs turning in Fumie-chan's head. They'd known each other for years, after all. "Just spit it out."

Fumie-chan sighed. - _Fine. What I really wanted to know about was Tsuruga-san. Did you go after him? Was he interested?-_

 _"_ You do realise that the work is more important than that sort of thing, right?"

- _Na-o-mi! Spill!-_

She sighed. "I talked to him, OK? He's as nice and as handsome as ever. But seriously; he's not at all interested."

- _So he_ is _gay after all?-_

"Thanks for the vote of confidence in my charms, Fumie-chan; but no, I don't think that's the problem. It's not _men_ he's interested in. It's _underage girls."_

 _-What?!-_

"Eh, I'm being unfair. She's not that young, really. I think she'll be eighteen later this year. But, yeah, he's totally smitten with this young actress on the cast. He even lost track of the conversation he was having with me because he was too busy watching her leave with sad puppy dog eyes."

- _Almost eighteen? Yeah, you can't say anything about that, can you, Naomi? Weren't you secretly dating that comedian when you were seventeen?-_

Naomi ran a hand through her hair. _"_ You're totally right. Eek, I'm turning into one of those old people who judges others for doing things I myself once did, but have conveniently forgotten about."

 _-You're not old. Not by a long shot. But anyway, that's disappointing,-_ said Fumie-chan. - _He always says in interviews that he doesn't have anyone special.-_

"Well, of course he would."

- _True. So, who is she?-_

"Hm, not sure I should say. I mean, it's not really our business."

- _Oh, come on. You know I won't tell anyone.-_

Naomi looked at Endou-san to make sure it looked like he was paying attention only to the road. "OK, OK. You know _Dark Moon_?"

- _Of course_.-

"Well, it's the actress who played Mio."

There was a long pause on the other end of the line. - _You have got to be kidding me!-_

 _"_ Nope, it's true. I'm sure of it."

- _But, but ... Oh, wait. Isn't she also the girl who plays Natsu in_ Box-R _?-_

 _"_ Um, I think so. Why? I haven't seen that show. Does it change anything?"

- _She's rather glamorous in that show. It was a big stir at the time. She looks like an entirely different person. Was she glamorous in real life?-_

 _"_ No. Just kinda fresh-looking and cute, you know? Like a thousand other hopefuls."

- _How about her acting? If she's done two very different roles, she must be good.-_

"I would have said competent, nothing more. Nothing special at all."

- _Hm. Disappointing. Maybe she's better on set?_ -

"Yeah, maybe. I guess there must be something special about her if she caught Tsuruga Ren's eye, right?"

- _Yeah. There must be. So, were there any other cute guys there?-_

"Fumie-chan! Really!" She looked at Endou-san again. He looked to the left before taking a turn, and she saw a small smile on his lips. He _was_ listening. Not only that; he was amused by the frivolity of their conversation. Naomi rolled her eyes. She guessed it was impossible to look professional for 100% of the time that her manager was with her. She just had to live with him occasionally thinking she was being silly.

"No I _won't_ tell you if there were other cute guys," she said into the phone. "But I _will_ tell you about the acting feedback I received if you want to hear."

* * *

 _* Please take care of me = the standard Japanese greeting "Yoroshiku onegai shimasu," a polite phrase to say when meeting someone for the first time. A better translation would actually be 'please regard me favourably,' and I think I even used that in the scene where I had Ren and Saena meeting for the first time, but it just felt too formal in this scene._

* * *

 **Next time:** **They meet for the read-through of the extra scene. Then Ren runs into ...?**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

 **Author's Note:**

 _ **Skip Beat!**_ **and its characters belong to the creator Nakamura Yoshiki.** _**Skip Beat!**_ **is serialised in 'Hana to Yume' magazine (Hakusensha) and licensed in English by 'Shojo Beat' (VIZ Media, LLC).**

 **The work below is written in the spirit of fan appreciation.  
** **UK English has been used throughout.**

* * *

 **Thank you to everyone who wished me well. I'm feeling better now.**

 **I have a shorter chapter for you this time. I've also incorporated a little titbit I've seen in spoilers for chapter 232, even though I haven't had a chance to read the chapter myself yet.**

* * *

The read-through of the secret scene went well. Since only the three of them were there, the director gave them further advice on how to portray the very beginning of romantic interest according to his vision for the drama. Then he gave them more feedback on how their characters were developing. He didn't have much to say to Tsuruga-san, but he did have a fair bit to say to Kyouko.

"There's just something missing, some factor of the character that you haven't yet discovered. Konoe-san told me about the attitude of the character you played for his project. I'd like something like that, something with that sort of intensity, but of course not the same attitude because Tomoe is a very different sort of young woman."

Kyouko gave a deep bow. "I'll do my best, director. May I have a few more impressions of the character to help guide me?" She bit her lip, not sure if she was being too forward or demanding by asking that question.

Mifune-kantoku didn't seem to mind. "She seems idle or lazy at first, but there's an energy within her ready to be unleashed on anything she puts her mind to. She's shy and doesn't like people seeing the real her, but she's perfectly happy to be out-there and eyecatching if that means people are looking at a version of her that isn't real. She wears masks. She doesn't like people making eye contact with her, but if she feels disrespected or looked down upon, her anger can flare up and she will stare anyone down until their knees tremble. She's a walking contradiction." He laughed. "To tell you the truth, she's me. That's why I can't quite put my finger on what you need to do to bring her out, but I know that I'll know it when you've found it."

Kyouko nodded slowly. She looked the director over from head to toe. He _was_ flamboyant. That evening he was wearing a black and white houndstooth coat over a black button down shirt and jeans. But he wasn't shy, and he didn't seem idle or lazy at all. Had he been in the past?

"I feel like a zoo animal," said the director to Tsuruga-san.

Kyouko gasped. "I'm so sorry!" She threw herself into a deep bow. "I was just looking for clues to the character. My apologies for offending you." She closed her eyes tightly, awaiting the rebuke she was sure was coming.

"That's quite all right. I'm glad you're putting so much effort into finding Tomoe. I just don't think I'd be much help now. Twenty years ago, maybe. But I've smoothed out many of the old edges and learned to be social. Have a think about it on your own. After all, Tomoe is from a different generation than me. You'll be able to find a version of her that suits the times, I'm sure."

"Thank you, Mifune-kantoku. I'll do my best." She looked up at him, then at Tsuruga-san. Both men were smiling. She wasn't in trouble.

Or maybe she was, because the words 'she seems idle or lazy at first, but there's an energy within her' were echoing in her mind, and they had sparked an idea. A very, very bad idea.

* * *

Ren gave Kyouko-chan a ride home. She was very quiet on the ride, no doubt still worrying over the puzzle of Tomoe. He knew from experience that as soon as she found the missing element, the role would almost begin to play her and her performance would be superb. He just hoped she found the missing piece soon.

Truth be told, he had a worry of his own. He knew that he had something to say to her, but he wasn't sure how she would take it. He couldn't leave it any longer, though.

"Mogami-san," he said as they stopped at a red light.

At the same time, she said, "Um, Tsuruga-san."

They both laughed a little.

"Please, go ahead, sempai."

"No, ladies first."

"Oh, no, no." She waved off his words.

He sighed. "OK. Mogami-san, I have something to apologise for."

He paused and looked at her out the corner of his eye. She sat patiently waiting with a blank expression. The light went green and he took a moment to attend to the driving again. When they were back up to speed and on a straight, he cleared his throat.

"Your mother asked to speak to me after the meeting with the director last week."

"Oh."

"She asked about your potential to make acting a long-term career."

She didn't say anything.

"I said you're doing very well."

He looked at her again. Her face hadn't changed.

"And, I'm sorry, but I accidentally said that you got 100% on your high school entrance exam, and that you've met Kuu Hizuri and he thinks you have potential."

She still didn't say anything.

"I'm really sorry. You aren't on as good terms with your mother as you'd led me to believe, are you? I said things I shouldn't have. You have my sincere apology." If he hadn't been driving, he would have bowed to her.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "You have nothing to apologise for, Tsuruga-san."

"Yes, I do. I was thoughtless."

"It's fine. You can't be blamed for not having information that I deliberately didn't tell you."

The air in the car was thick with silence. When he couldn't bare it any longer, he said, "Would you tell me? If it helps."

She sighed and rested her head on the window. The lights of Tokyo slid over her face as they drove through the night. He was so sure the conversation was over that he nearly jumped when she began to speak.

"What happened to her was awful. I feel for her, I really do. But it doesn't excuse how she treated me. I'm just not pure enough in my heart to forgive her for everything." She gulped so deeply that Ren heard her throat working. "She said she only had me because she found out she was pregnant too late to have an abortion. And she ..." Kyouko-chan stifled a sob. "She hated herself, but took it out on me."

Anger rose up in Ren at the thought that Kyouko could very well have never been born and that her mother had been taking out her personal demons on a defenceless child. And as for that 'And she ...' — Kyouko was keeping something back, something worse.

"Then how were you sitting next to her as if nothing was wrong?" His voice sounded harsh even to his own ears.

"It's fine, you don't need to worry about it, Tsuruga-san. Because I've made my decision about how to deal with this. I could hate her, and myself, and become just like her when I'm older: bitter and full of self-loathing. But I don't want to. I want to break the cycle. And I need to be vigilant about that because I've already shown signs of going down that path, haven't I? I mean, how I dealt with that guy's betrayal."

Ren gritted his teeth. "That guy deserved everything you threw at him, and more."

"Maybe. But I became something very scary back then, and I still haven't entirely returned to normal. I don't want to be like that again, even if it means just letting go of my anger and accepting the people in my life as they are."

Ren bit down hard on his anger to keep himself from saying anything else harsh. She knew he was angry and seemed to think he was angry at her; she flinched away from him and dropped her gaze to her hands that were folded in her lap. But she was right about letting go being the better option. He tried to follow her example and felt the tension drop out of his shoulders in response. "So you're going to let your mother back into your life?"

"Hm," she said. "To a certain extent. I'll never be exactly close with her. It's too late. But she's realised what she did wrong and she wants to try to make amends. If the things she does for me are helpful, why not let her?" She let out a dry chuckle. "Mother said that she doesn't want to deny me anything. In truth, I was worried that she would try to deny me from acting. But she's letting me do whatever I want. It's not exactly a bad turn of events." She peeked at him from under her eyelashes. "Does that make me a bad person for taking advantage of the situation?"

"No," he said. "Absolutely not. It means you're trying to make the best of a bad situation. It means you're a strong person and I admire you for that." He smiled at her briefly before looking back at the road.

"Thank you, Tsuruga-san," she whispered.

"So I didn't screw anything up when I spoke to her?"

"No, I don't mind her knowing that I got 100% on a test. Especially not a test that she wasn't around to pressure me about. I'm proud that I got that score for myself, not for her."

They fell into an easier silence for a minute or so.

"Oh!" said Ren. "You wanted to say something too, didn't you? What was it?"

Her side of the car seemed to fill with a dark cloud. "That's all right, Tsuruga-san," she said in a strangled voice.

"No, really, what was it? You seem bothered."

She fiddled with the hem of her jacket. "Um, I was thinking about the missing part of Tomoe. I think I know what it is, but I'm uneasy about using it."

"Mogami-san, whatever life experiences you have can be used to flesh out your roles. You should use whatever you can to build a memorable performance. That's what the best actors do."

"I understand that, sempai, really I do. It's just ..." she hesitated. "Um, I don't think you're going to like this one, so I wanted to warn you first."

"Why? What won't I like?"

"Um, well, something the director said when he was telling me about Tomoe stuck with me. It reminded me of someone ..."

When it seemed she'd lapsed into silence, he twirled a finger to keep her talking.

"Um, please don't be angry, but I think I need to channel a little bit of that guy into the role."

Ren sighed. Her hesitation made sense. "But Tomoe's not an extraverted narcissist like he is."

"I know, but even he has other sides. There are some ... things that seem to match. Things that people don't usually see. It was what the director said about Tomoe seeming idle or lazy but having a lot of latent energy that made me think of that guy. Before he made it big he was a bit like that."

Ren couldn't help but imagine Kyouko spending time with that little shit before they had fallen out. He imagined her cooking food for him as he lazed about with a guitar. It was all he could do to stick to the speed limit.

"Stop feeling that way, please," she said. "If I'm to let go of my anger, I ask that you to do so as well, because I can't help but be swayed by your anger. Please, Tsuruga-san."

They had reached the street behind Darumaya, and Ren was glad because he needed to stop driving. He pulled over, turned the car off, and then swivelled to look at her. "You intend to accept _him_ back into your life as well?"

"No. Not accept him back. I just want to let go of all that anger. I think it will be better for my career and future this way. It will definitely be better for the new drama. I don't want to feel angry while playing the role." She looked up at him with big eyes. "Please, Tsuruga-san. I know that you have your own problems with him. But I want to move on."

 _I want to move on._

He surprised himself by smiling. Then his thoughts caught up and he realised what was making him happy. "I want you to move on too, Mogami-san. I want you to have the happiest of lives. OK: I'll make an effort to let go of all that too, because I want what's best for you." _And I'll be inspired by your example, Kyouko, because I too have things I want to move on from._

She turned so red that he could see it even in the dark. She seemed to be having trouble meeting his gaze.

"OK, come on," he said. "I'll walk you to your door."

* * *

When Ren returned to his car, someone was standing beside it waiting for him: a middle-aged man in an expensive suit. The man gave him a shallow bow as he approached.

"Tsuruga Ren, I presume?" the man asked.

Ren nodded. "That's me. I'm sorry, do I know you?"

"I'm Toudou from Viride General Law Office."

 _A lawyer? And that business name — why does it sound familiar?_

"I work with Mogami Saena," said Toudou-san.

"Ah." Ren felt whatever polite smile he had been wearing start to slip at the name.

"I'll be up front with you and admit that this isn't a coincidence," the man continued. "I was staking out Kyouko-chan's residence to confirm a suspicion. If you have a few minutes, may I have a word with you?"

* * *

 **Next time: What does Toudou-san want to talk to Ren about?**

* * *

 **Yup, I dropped the 'chan' from Kyouko's name in Ren's thoughts half-way through that scene on purpose. The way I see it, the honorifics can be used as an important part of character building — the difference between how they call someone out loud and how they think about them, and also how this changes over time.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

 **Author's Note:**

 _ **Skip Beat!**_ **and its characters belong to the creator Nakamura Yoshiki.** _**Skip Beat!**_ **is serialised in 'Hana to Yume' magazine (Hakusensha) and licensed in English by 'Shojo Beat' (VIZ Media, LLC).**

 **The work below is written in the spirit of fan appreciation.  
** **UK English has been used throughout.**

* * *

Kyouko made it to her room before falling apart. She dropped to her knees, dug her fingers into her hair, and then fell onto her side on the tatami.

 _What's wrong with meeeeeee? How could I speak to him like that, demanding he do this and that for my sake?_ She'd practically told him off for getting angry. What sort of spoiled, entitled kouhai was she turning into? He shouldn't have to change his behaviour for her convenience.

She rolled onto her back. He didn't seem to mind, though. His anger had faded at her words and he'd even smiled.

 _"I want what's best for you" —_ he'd actually said that! Kyouko's cheeks flushed again at the memory, and her imagination ran away on her...

 _No!_ she chastised herself as she slapped her cheeks to try to knock some sense into her stupid brain. _That's just his loose phrasing again. He does it all the time; you know that. He thoughtlessly says things in a way that could be misinterpreted. It doesn't mean anything!_

But now that she'd admitted that she loved him, now that she had seen in her mother's haunted eyes what fear of love could do to a person, it was getting harder and harder to turn off the lovesick side of her brain.

She fished in her handbag and pulled out her new phone. She opened the photo gallery and flicked past the pictures of food and Princess Rosa she had taken as camouflage to her secret treasure buried at the bottom of the gallery: the picture of Tsuruga-san and the sheep pillow. It looked so tiny on her new phone because the screen resolution was better than her old phone's camera had been. Even so, it made her smile when she looked at it.

 _No! Stop that, Kyouko! Do your homework instead!_

* * *

Ren settled into a booth in the late-night cafe and watched the other man make an order at the counter. He had chosen a booth that was as far away as possible from the four other patrons of the cafe: if they were going to talk about Kyouko's affairs in public like he suspected they would, he wanted to limit the chance of anyone overhearing. Also, he didn't come prepared with a hat or glasses, so surely the two young women gossiping at a table near the front had recognised him. Yes, they sure had: while he was looking, one of the women took a not-quite-surreptitious cellphone picture of him.

Toudou-san placed the order number in the middle of the table and took a seat. "I ordered you a coffee," he said. "You look like a coffee man."

"Thank you."

Toudou-san stared at him intently. Ren waited for the man to begin, then smiled politely when he didn't.

"You asked to talk to me, sir. Do you mind me asking what this is about?"

"I'm just getting your measure, Tsuruga-kun. Seeing what kind of person you are. As for what this is about, clearly the topic is Kyouko-chan."

"I figured that much at least. I'm just wondering what specifically you'd like to ask me about her."

"You're a fake," said Toudou-san. "Everything about you from your hairdo, to your clothes, to your facial expressions and manner of speaking is carefully chosen to convey a certain impression."

"Is that so?" said Ren as he poured more effort into keeping up his smile. "Well, I admit that as a public figure I have certain standards to maintain as part of my career. But isn't that how it is for most people? You're a lawyer. I'm sure you have similar needs."

"It's the perfection of your smile that gives you away. It's too smooth, too practiced. I'm sure most people don't see through it, though, and remain unaware of what you really think of them. And you have a lot of thoughts, don't you? Like right now: you're angry at me and wondering how you can get rid of me."

Ren dropped the smile — it seemed pointless. "Are you really a lawyer?" he asked. "Because I've met police detectives as research for a role before and you act more like them than any lawyer I've met."

"Thank you."

Ren sighed. "I have an early start tomorrow. Do you have anything in particular you want to ask me?"

Toudou-san lounged back in his seat. "I've worked with Mogami Saena for a long time, you know. Since before Kyouko-chan was born. I remember when she was just a teeny tiny little thing. I have concern for both of their wellbeing."

"Are you her father?" he asked.

"Alas, no."

"But despite that, this is the 'father staring down a young man who is near his daughter' conversation?"

Toudou-san shrugged. "Maybe it's a little like that. Please don't ever tell either of them that you got that impression, though. I'd be in a lot of trouble." He tugged at his collar. "Saena-san told me about the older sempai who had promised to look out for Kyouko-chan's wellbeing at work. She talked about you as if you were some middle-aged man who is to Kyouko-chan what our boss Katagiri is to her. But when I looked you up online I saw you're just some 21-year-old guy, barely an adult yourself. Something didn't ring true. To be fair, Saena-san has a chronic issue with judging people and their intentions, so it's not surprising she miscategorised you. Plus, that's some bone structure you have there. How young were you able to buy cigarettes and alcohol?"

"From sixteen."

Toudou-san tut-tutted. "This is why shop workers need to be vigilant about checking ID."

Ren wanted to cut through the chit-chat and get right to the central topic. "I'm not sleeping with her, if that's what you're getting at. I know how old she is."

"Like I said, I'm not her father. I don't have the right to check up on things like that, although as a lawyer I'm glad to hear that even if you did buy age-regulated substances when you shouldn't have, you at least draw the line at statutory rape."

Ren's hands tightened into fists under the table. By then his face had surely started to look rather thunderous. "More importantly than her age, she's not ready for that sort of thing. I think highly of her, and I don't like hearing you imply that I would treat her with anything less than respect."

They paused their conversation briefly as the waitress delivered their coffees. Toudou-san took his time adding sugar to his and very carefully placed his spoon in his saucer before he spoke.

"My main concern is that you don't exist," he said. "I've checked. There's no such person as Tsuruga Ren, 21 years old."

Ren took a sip of his own coffee. "I work in the entertainment industry. It's common for actors, musicians, and talents to use stage names. I don't hide that it's not my real name. Mogami-san knows."

"She does? She didn't ... Oh, sorry, you mean Kyouko-chan. You call her that?"

Ren nodded.

"Can you call her Kyouko for this conversation? I don't want to get confused."

"I, uh, um ..."

"Hah!" Toudou-san snapped his fingers. "Caught you. That blush, that hesitation."

"Huh?"

"You're in love with Kyouko-chan."

Ren blinked. He briefly considered denying it or brushing the accusation under the rug, but playing the conversation back he saw that it was pointless. He'd been skilfully cracked. Toudou-san had likely made him angry, bringing up statutory rape and the like, so that his emotions would be more apparent. Ren felt a profound sense of shame at being so thoroughly manipulated. This guy _was_ like a detective!

"Is it that obvious?"

"I don't know how well you usually hide it, but you didn't hide it well just then. Does she know?"

Ren shook his head.

"Of course not: like mother, like daughter. Even so it doesn't really ease my concerns. Whether you love her or not is irrelevant: you don't exist. Or rather, the real you is a secret. Whether you are close to her as a sempai, a friend, or a lover, the fact remains that you are an unknown quantity in her life."

"I'm not something you need to worry about, and I don't wish to discuss it."

"Just humour me. Are you from a Yakuza family? An ex-yankee*? Do you have a criminal record?"

"No, no, and no. Don't bother asking. I have nothing further I want to say on the matter."

"You're a suspicious guy, Tsuruga-kun. There are rumours about you; rumours that you used to be a bad boy of some kind."

"I have my reasons for not using my real name, and I don't wish to share them."

"Is it a family thing?"

 _Ugh, why is this guy so perspicacious?_ "The only thing I wish to say is this: she is on my very short list of people I will be telling my real name to first. You, however, are not on that list."

Toudou-san drummed his fingers on the tabletop.

"Does Kyouko-chan know the real you?"

"I just said—"

"I don't mean your name. I mean who you _are._ I said earlier that I think few people see through your facade."

Ren thought of his conversation with Kyouko only a short while ago; it had been yet another example of how she always knew when he was angry, no matter how well he thought he was hiding it. "She sees through me. She sees more than anyone, I think."

Toudou-san nodded. "Well, OK then. I have another question for you, though."

Ren tried not to give away his impatience. "Go ahead."

"When I first heard about Kyouko-chan working, the way she described what she was doing made it sound suspicious. She talked in circles while tying not to give away too many details. I looked up LME and found that it's a reputable talent agency, and that despite what she said she is doing proper acting work on screen in dramas."

"That's right. She's doing very well."

"That's good to hear. But I don't understand why she needed a passport or where she could have travelled. She said she was doing important work behind the scenes. But it doesn't make sense. I'm concerned that she's doing something dangerous or suspicious for another company. She seems a bit naive at times."

Ren let out a slow breath. "Please don't be concerned. The trip she took outside Japan was for a job she was given through LME, and it wasn't anything shady. It was an acting job."

Toudou-san pushed his glasses further up his nose with one finger. "That's funny. All of my other contacts in the entertainment industry thought that what I knew of her recent job sounded weird, and they didn't know of anything that could have those requirements or be described in such a way. Yet you didn't hesitate to answer. Was she working with you?"

The conversation was getting more and more dangerous. He drank from his coffee cup while he thought. "I am not at liberty to speak on that matter. I signed an NDA." There: hopefully a lawyer would know to drop such a topic.

"Ah. So it was _you_ who was doing the strange, shady work, and she was just helping you out. Was she your assistant or something?"

"I never said she was working with me specifically. I merely said that my involvement in the matter, even if it isn't directly connected to Kyouko-chan's involvement, is covered by an NDA and therefore I cannot speak on the matter without breaking the agreement. My apologies."

"Fine; I understand."

Ren had the feeling that Toudou-san hadn't dropped the matter at all; he'd just decided to try another source of information. Konoe-kantoku's preparations and their own precautions would soon be thoroughly tested.

"Still, it's quite odd that she didn't just come out and say she was an actress. She tried to make it sound like she was just doing behind-the-scenes work and the odd walk-on role. Is she ashamed of her work?"

"You should ask Mogami Saena-san about that. The main reason Kyouko would have been holding back about that to you is that she wouldn't have been sure if her mother wanted you to know that she works in showbiz or not. She told me that she was afraid her mother would deny her from acting."

"You do know her well, don't you?" Toudou-san drained his cup and then stood up. "Well, thank you for your time, Tsuruga-kun. I won't keep you any longer."

"Wait a moment, please" said Ren.

Toudou-san raised an eyebrow and then sat back down.

"I have a concern of my own, Toudou-san. What exactly were you doing loitering outside Kyouko-chan's place? You're more than a little suspicious yourself."

"I told you, I've known Saena for a long time. I was concerned on her behalf."

"That's no excuse to stalk Kyouko."

"I'm not stalking her. I was merely interested to see if my suspicion was confirmed."

"What suspicion?"

"That you would drop her off at home at some point. Also, I wanted to know, if you did so, what kind of expression you would have when you looked at her not knowing that someone was observing you. And I wanted to know what kind of expression she would have too."

Ren clasped his hands on the tabletop. "You didn't need me to confess to my feelings, did you?"

"Nope, it was plain to see out on the street."

"What, ah, what did you see in her face?"

Toudou-san grinned and stood. "Well, that's hardly my place to say. But I do have a bit of advice for you: both the mother and the daughter have been deceived by men they cared about. If you're serious, you're not going to get far while you're still lying about your history."

"I already know that. It's one of the reasons I haven't confessed to her yet."

"Well, that's all right then. I really should get going, though. It was nice talking to you, Tsuruga-kun." He inclined his head and then left the cafe.

Ren slumped back in his seat. He hadn't found the conversation to be 'nice' at all. How could one person have observed so many of his secrets, or at least the existence of those secrets, in one sitting? But he had learned a few things of his own; primarily that Toudou-san cared for Kyouko's mother very deeply, so he likely was just concerned for their wellbeing as he said. Ren knew he wasn't always the best at picking up signs like that, but when Toudou-san had said 'like mother, like daughter' it had seemed to him to be drawn from personal experience. But just because the man was looking out for Kyouko's interests didn't mean that he would have any particular concern for Ren's interests at all.

He pulled his cellphone out of his pocket, scrolled through his contacts, and made a call. The other person picked up on the fourth ring.

"Boss?" said Ren. "I have a problem that I need your help with."

* * *

OverheardAtLME · 3 h  
Hello! I'm new to Twitter. I'll be posting quotes I overhear at LME talent agency. Starting with a weird one ...

OverheardAtLME · 3 h  
"I could lend you my collection of lifelike silicone spiders if that would help."

* * *

 _* Yankee — Japanese slang for street hoodlum_

* * *

 **Next time: Kyouko has an unexpected encounter of her own.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

 **Author's Note:**

 _ **Skip Beat!**_ **and its characters belong to the creator Nakamura Yoshiki.** _**Skip Beat!**_ **is serialised in 'Hana to Yume' magazine (Hakusensha) and licensed in English by 'Shojo Beat' (VIZ Media, LLC).**

 **The work below is written in the spirit of fan appreciation.  
** **UK English has been used throughout.**

* * *

The day after the first script read-through, Kyouko had a meeting at LME with Matsudaira-san, one of the president's restaurant owner friends. She swallowed down her nervousness and described to him her intentions for the web series. She was sure that Matsudaira-san would think the whole idea was silly, but of course any friend of the president would be open to the unusual. After listening attentively, he took a bundle out of a bag and placed it on the meeting room table. "I heard that you auditioned for LME by performing the katsuramuki technique. May I see?"

Kyouko unwrapped the bundle: it contained a daikon and a chef's super-sharp knife in a sheath. _Well, why not?_ she thought. She stood, eyed the contour of the daikon to get a feel for how it would need to be peeled, and then made a nice big rose. It was a wee bit wobbly because she was out of practice, but Matsudaira-san seemed pleased enough. He took the knife from her, wiped the blade clean with a cloth, and sheathed it.

"Thank you very much, Mogami-san. That was very impressive for a young woman your age. My restaurant _Nebunohana_ will be more than happy to sponsor your show. All I ask is that we see the videos before they go to air and have a chance to raise any concerns we have."

"Thank you very much, sir," she said while performing a deep bow. "I am very grateful for your generosity."

"What lovely manners you have. If you ever decide that show business is not for you, please come and interview for a job at my restaurant. Ah, what am I saying? You were Mio in _Dark Moon_ , weren't you?"

Kyouko nodded.

"I'm sure you'll do fine in show business after all. I enjoyed your performance. My son is one of your fans, you know. He's going to be rather jealous that I got to meet you."

Kyouko blushed. "Thank you, sir. Please pass my thanks on to your son for supporting my career. I'm very grateful for all of my fans." Truth be told, hearing that she had a fan was rather weird, but she knew well enough to show her appreciation — being thankful for fans had been drilled into her at the acting school. No one lasted past their debut years if they didn't build a fan base.

Kyouko slunk through the corridors after the meeting. First of all, she wasn't ready to accidentally run into Tsuruga-san: she was still far too embarrassed about what she had said to him the night before. Secondly, even though she had just gained sponsorship for her web series with ease, she didn't feel comfortable with the accomplishment. _When am I going to achieve something significant in my life that doesn't originate ultimately from the skills I learned from the Fuwa family?_

Besides, it had seemed far too easy to win Matsudaira-san over. She was sure that the funding had already been secured and the meeting she'd just been to had been nothing more than a formality.

She walked out the front door of LME, put up her umbrella, and started walking to the Tokyo Metro station at the end of the block.

"Kyouko-chan!" someone called out to her over the rain and the traffic noise. "Kyouko-chan!"

Kyouko turned and was surprised to see Shouko-san running towards her. Kyouko looked around, but Shoutarou wasn't in sight, thank goodness.

Shouko-san stopped in front of her and stood gasping for a moment. She was wearing a hoodless coat and had no umbrella, so her hair was sopping wet and plastered to her forehead. When she caught her breath, Shouko-san opened her mouth to speak ...

... and burst into tears.

* * *

Ten minutes later they sat in the LoveMe room. Kyouko had brought her upstairs as a visitor, found her a towel to dry her hair, and had started making her a pot of rejuvenating tea. Shouko-san sat with the towel around her shoulders; she was steadily working her way through a box of tissues as she continued to cry softly.

Kyouko placed the teapot and a teacup on the table. She poured the first cup. "Here: this will warm you up," she said.

"Thank you, Kyouko-chan. You're very kind."

Kyouko waited while Shouko-san took a few sips — enough for the colour to start to return to her face.

"Would you like to talk about it?" she asked the older woman.

Shouko-san turned the cup around and around in her hands. "I shouldn't have come to you, Kyouko-chan," she said. "It's unfair to ask you to deal with even more problems caused by him."

"It's OK, Shouko-san. I already figured he'd done something when I invited you here. Don't worry about me."

Shouko-san sat in silence for a while. Kyouko waited her out. She was clearly upset, and she didn't want to make whatever it was any more difficult for her.

"I've been fired," she said eventually.

"Oh, Shouko-san."

Tears streaked down her cheeks again. "We had an argument. I didn't see him for a couple of days. I thought he was just cooling off. But he told the managers at Akatoki things, and they fired me."

Kyouko reached out and held the other woman's hands. "That's terrible! That wretch! Didn't they listen when you told them he was just lying out of spite?"

Shouko-san smiled through her tears. "You're such an innocent, Kyouko-chan. I couldn't say that because they weren't exactly lies." She took a deep breath. "I feel so stupid. I was such an idiot! I ... let him into my bed." She hung her head.

Kyouko stilled.

"I know it was wrong, but somehow it just ended up that way."

"I'm sorry to ask: was this before or after his eighteenth birthday?"

Shouko-san slumped even further. "Before," she whispered. "He has pictures of me sleeping on his phone. Date stamped pictures. He showed them. The only reason I'm not in a jail cell right now is because I knew about something illegal one of the managers has done in the past. I was saving the knowledge for a rainy day." She laughed and ran a hand over her wet hair. "It's really raining, huh? I've been fired and blacklisted, and I'm only not headed for conviction because I blackmailed someone."

Kyouko didn't quite know what to say. It wasn't that she was shocked or surprised by Shouko-san's confession; she'd had her suspicions. She just didn't know how she could help.

"I'm revolting, aren't I?" asked Shouko-san.

"No!" Kyouko jumped to her feet and put her hands on the other woman's shoulders. "I know what Shoutarou's like, and I'm certain he was no child being taken advantage of by you. It happens a lot, I'm sure. Lots of people in my class at school drop hints that they have lovers already. It's just that most people are courteous enough not to out their partners." She crossed her arms. "He's getting worse! What will he do to the next poor woman who annoys him? He needs sense talked into him!"

"Don't put yourself in his way for my sake," said Shouko-san. "I'm not worth it."

"I don't want to hear you say that, Shouko-san. You're talented, beautiful, and kind. You put up with his crap for ages. I bet a huge chunk of his success is due to your hard work. It's his loss!"

Shouko-san rubbed at her eyes, accidentally smearing her mascara. "Thank you, Kyouko-chan. Remember, though, that all those words apply to you as well. He lost out with you, too."

That small part of Kyouko's brain that always wanted to protest any compliments she received flared up as usual, but for once she silenced it. This didn't feel like the time for that sort of thing. "Thank you, Shouko-san."

Kyouko sat and poured another cup of tea for her guest, then one for herself too. "What are you going to do now?" she asked.

Shouko-san sighed. "I have no idea. Go home to my parents, maybe? I've been working in the entertainment business here in Tokyo ever since I graduated high school. I don't know anything else. If I'm blacklisted ..." She took a quick swig of the tea.

"But that's just with Akatoki, right? You could work for another company."

Shouko-san shook her head. "It doesn't work like that. Word gets around. If you're blacklisted from one company, no one else wants you. Especially not if the company is Akatoki. No one wants to get on their bad side; they're too powerful."

"LME can stand up to them."

"No, it's hopeless. No one can risk taking me on because if word of my transgressions ever gets out, then it would cause trouble for whichever company hired me, so they wouldn't even risk it."

"You mean if the blackmail doesn't work?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I mean." Shouko-san's face looked paler and more drawn as the conversation progressed.

Kyouko felt more and more worried as the full extent of Shouko-san's troubles became clear to her. How _dare_ Shoutarou do this to her? Sure, Shouko-san had done something stupid, but it was a stupid thing that many other people had done before her. Most people looked the other way if the under-aged person wasn't very far under age and seemed mature enough, particularly if the male was the younger partner. Kyouko was sure that Shoutarou had lost his virginity years ago, long before they'd even left Kyoto. Why was he claiming to be a victim? How ridiculous! He had even passed his eighteenth birthday. It was totally fine now! The past could have remained hidden.

"I'll talk to the president on your behalf."

"It's OK, Kyouko-chan. I don't want to cause trouble for you here. Your company president wouldn't be able to help me anyway."

"Even if he can't hire you, I'm sure he would have some advice for you. He's been in the business for a long time. I'm sure he's seen it all before."

"But the company president! Wouldn't it be hard to get an appointment with him? Don't waste that effort on me."

"Oh, no, no, don't worry about that. The president is a meddler extraordinaire. He doesn't pass up opportunities to attempt to improve people's lives. He's a Love Monster who wants to spread love and happiness to all, whether they want him to or not."

Shouko-san stared at her. "You speak about your company president like that? What sort of working relationship do you have with the people here?"

"It's normal. Everyone here talks about him like that. If I can get him to meet you, you'll see why."

Shouko-san bowed deeply over her teacup. "Thank you, Kyouko-san. Even if you can't help me any further, thank you for talking to me today. Your words have made me feel so much better. You have a rare gift."

 _Gift?_ thought Kyouko. She wasn't sure what the other woman meant.

"Promise me one thing, though," continued Shouko-san. "Promise that you won't lie for me. If you manage to talk to your company president, tell him everything. Tell him the central accusation is true. I don't want you to have to lie for me or get in trouble for me, and I don't want to approach the president of LME under false pretences."

"OK, I understand. Would you like another tea, or how about a coffee?"

* * *

Shou hadn't yet unpacked the boxes in his new apartment. It wasn't really bothering him yet, though. The new apartment was much bigger and was in a much fancier building than his old one, so he had plenty of space. He hadn't wanted to meet Shouko in the elevator or anything like that, so he'd moved. The new rent was a little steep, but since his career was surely about to take off overseas, that wasn't a problem.

The new apartment was also very close to a supermarket that had a wide range of fancy bentous so he didn't have to worry about not having access to home-cooked food at the moment. There were several empty bentou containers lying around. At least one was starting to smell, but that was all right; he'd get around to it soon. Just as soon as he reached the next level.

The doorbell rang. He paused the PlayStation and sighed. That was the apartment door, not just the call button from the lobby. Wasn't this building supposed to have all the mod cons when it came to security? How had someone reached his floor? He shuffled to the door. "Who is it?" he called as he looked at the man in the business suit through the peephole.

"My name is Sasaki. I'm from Akatoki. Please let me in, Fuwa-san."

Shou supposed this guy was a middle manager of some sort, perhaps one of the lawyers. Maybe he was here to talk about Shouko. He opened the door and let the middle-aged man in. "Make yourself at home," he said.

Sasaki took off his shoes in the genkan, stepped up into the apartment proper, and looked around with wide eyes.

"Nice place, isn't it?" said Shou. "What are you here for? Is it about punishing Shouko? Or do you have news about who my new manager will be? Like I told the old man, I want another babe. Hot women suit my look."

"Sorry to disappoint you, Fuwa-kun," said Sasaki. "I doubt anyone would all me a 'babe' and I'm certainly not a hot woman. I am your new manager, though."

Shou gaped at the man. "You're what?"

"Your new manager. Please regard me favourably." He bowed. "Also, I'm sure this place was nice, but it's not now. It's a pigsty."

"Hey, hey, come on!" said Shou. "Is this a joke? A man can't be my manager!"

"Why not, Fuwa-kun?"

"Wh-who's going to cook and clean for me?"

Sasaki looked at him in silence for a long moment. "You will do that for yourself. You're not a child."

"But Shouko always—"

"You got rid of Aki-san yourself, remember? Although I don't know the details, it seems you were unhappy with her performance and pulled some strings to have her let go from the company. I don't care what she used to do for you. I'm going to be the type of manager who focuses on your career and keeps you in line. With me at your side, success will be assured." He strode over to the PlayStation and pressed the power button.

"Hey! I was in the middle of a game!"

"Not anymore. You need to be at the recording studio in half an hour to record that drama theme song that was commissioned. I received comprehensive notes about the job, but unfortunately not the music or lyrics. May I see them?"

"Oh, that. I haven't finished it yet. Can you reschedule the recording studio?"

Sasaki stared at him for nearly half a minute. "Please tell me that was a joke," he said finally.

"Why would I joke about that? The drama's just a silly little fluff thing. I wasn't feeling it, so the muse hasn't spoken to me yet."

Sasaki sat on one of the boxes and rested his head in his hands. "We _can't_ reschedule."

"Why not? Just call them."

"What did Aki-san do in these situations? From your file, I never saw any indication that you ever pulled stunts like this. You've always turned up for recordings on time before."

Shou frowned. "Yeah, I guess. I mean, Shouko used to make sure that all my other stresses were taken care of. You know."

The other man blinked.

"Like food, and stuff. She gives a great back rub." He winked.

The other man just continued to stare.

"Anyway, I guess I always got things done on time because she made sure I was in the right headspace."

"And you got rid of her? You idiot. Well, I'll call the recording studio, but today's booking still needs to be paid for. Akatoki doesn't cover mess-ups like this. Today's recording fee will be coming out of your next royalty check."

"What?!"

Sasaki held a hand up. "Get to work and finish that song, Fuwa-kun. Now." He pulled his phone out and wandered into the unused kitchen while he made the call.

Shou stood in the middle of his living room frozen to the spot with shock. What on Earth was happening? Was this a nightmare? Where was his new sexy manager and why had this grumpy old man turned up instead?

* * *

OverheardAtLME 4 h  
"Just ask her to wave that knife around for you. She knows her stuff: I'm sure you'll enjoy her performance."

* * *

 **Next time: The LoveMe girls visit Jelly Woods' salon.**

* * *

 **I've always felt uneasy about what we've been shown of Shouko and Shou's relationship. For a long time I tried to convince myself that it wasn't what it looks like, but we've seen him not only in her apartment, but also in her bedroom. In her bed. She even dragged him off to have a shower with her to distract him from seeing Kyouko's** _ **Dark Moon**_ **wrap party interview. It's so wrong! I find that my own morality isn't quite compatible with this particular plot thread. I think Shouko is wrong, but in the story we're clearly supposed to sympathise with her. So I've tried to write it as one of those 'grey' issues where it's too hard to judge if it's right or wrong. I think that's closer to the truth than anything else. I really do feel that Shouko has been manipulated by Shou. I just think she should have known better.**

 **Well, at least there is nothing in** _ **Skip Beat!**_ **that is nearly as bad as the secondary romance in** _ **Tokyo Crazy Paradise**_ **. (Suddenly remembers the Heel Sibling arc, which makes it look superficially like my precious bby Kyouko has an incest fetish. Uh ...) And really, this is a chronic problem with manga, isn't it? Even** _ **Hana to Yume**_ **shoujo manga push the line. Also, come to think of it, I know someone in Japan who is married to a man who used to be her teacher in high school ... so it's not as if these sorts of stories don't have a basis in fact ...**

 **Everything that happens in real life deserves to be covered in fiction. OK, maybe I've talked myself into accepting this part of the story after all. I'm still holding out for the day when Shouko comes to her senses, though!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter** **12**

 **Author's Note:**  
 _ **Skip Beat!**_ **and its characters belong to the creator Nakamura Yoshiki.** _**Skip Beat!**_ **is serialised in 'Hana to Yume' magazine (Hakusensha) and licensed in English by 'Shojo Beat' (VIZ Media, LLC).**

 **The work below is written in the spirit of fan appreciation.**  
 **UK English has been used throughout.**

* * *

Kyouko stood by the bank of mirrors with her hands folded. Kanae-san had taken a seat in one of the salon chairs, and Amamiya-san was examining a rack of nail polish bottles one by one. Jelly Woods had asked them to wait a moment while she took a phone booking. Another woman, who was tall and lanky and maybe a few years older than Kyouko, laid out a variety of implements by three of the salon chairs at the far end of the row. She reminded Kyouko of a nurse laying out surgical implements for a surgeon in a medical drama.

Kyouko marvelled at the gorgeous salon. The walls were deep red, but most of the furniture was white with gold accents so the room didn't look dark at all. Along the wall opposite the mirrors stood four thin shelving units holding various beauty products. Between those units the wall had been decorated with posters of famous models. One of those posters was of Tsuruga-san. Unlike other salons, these posters were not just decoration bought by the beautician: they were examples of Jelly Woods' own work.

"All right!" said Jelly Woods as she hung up the phone. "Sorry about that. Thank you for coming."

"Thank you for having us," said Amamiya-san.

"Yes, this is very kind of you," said Kanae-san.

"Nonsense, nonsense," said Jelly Woods. "I'm going to have the most fun of all of us. Three dolls to play dress up with!"

Kyouko and her friends all laughed quietly (and a little nervously) at the beautician's words.

"OK, girls, over here," said Jelly Woods as she walked over to the tall woman. "Meet Aya. She's here to help me today. Aya, this is Kyouko, Kanae, and Chiori."

All four newly introduced women bowed and murmured 'Nice to meet you.'

"What I'd like to do today is, with Aya's help, give the three of you some tips on fashion and makeup that will help you with your careers and also, more importantly, help you feel more confident in yourselves. I know one of you at least—" she poked Kyouko in the ribs with a pointy nail, making her shriek, "—is under the erroneous impression that she's plain-looking."

Kyouko rubbed her side and blushed at the attention. "I _am_ plain."

"You are not. You need to learn to take a compliment, Kyouko-chan." She wagged a finger under Kyouko's nose. "If someone compliments you, even if you don't agree with the compliment, just say 'Thank you.' That's all. Or do you like insulting people by saying you think their opinions are wrong?"

"No! Of course not!"

"Then just say 'Thank you.' That's all you need to do, and then everyone is happy."

Kyouko looked at the diminutive woman with wide eyes. "Muse! You're so wise!"

Jelly Woods crossed her arms. "Are you calling me old, Kyouko-chan? Wisdom comes with age, you know."

Kyouko waved her hands frantically. "No! Not at all. I'm 110% certain that your immense wisdom comes from your magical fairy witch blood!"

Kanae-san snorted, Jelly Woods rolled her eyes, and Aya-san just looked confused.

"Anyway, moving on," said Jelly Woods. "Aya-san is here today to help not only with the makeup side of things, but also with the confidence issue. Aya?"

"Yes," said the tall woman. "First, I have a question for you. What do you think my job is?"

"Beautician like Woods-san?" asked Amamiya-san.

"Wrong. Actually, I'm a catwalk model."

Kyouko gaped. Now that it was pointed out to her, Aya-san's tall, thin build was rather model-like, but facially she looked a little, well, plain. She wasn't unpleasant on the eyes by any standards, but she didn't really stand out, either.

"You all look a little surprised. Shall I prove it?" She took a seat in one of the chairs. "Ten-san, would you please do my makeup?"

Jelly Woods stepped over and began putting concealer on Aya-san's face, then quickly moved on to the foundation. When she reached to change products, Aya-san talked to the three wide-eyed girls.

"The reason I wanted to help Ten-san today is because I feel partially responsible for the confidence issues of young women today." She paused for the foundation. "In my job I promote a standard of beauty that can only be reached by people who have access to a professional beautician to do their makeup, and professional photographers and lighting experts to capture the results." She paused for the eyeshadow then continued talking as Jelly Woods worked on her brows. "I know young girls look at pictures of me, then see their own makeup-free faces in the mirror and feel like they fall short. I try to off-set that through the Makeup-free movement." She paused for eyeliner and mascara. "I post makeup-free pictures of myself online, acne and all, to let girls and women see what I really look like." She paused for the lipstick. "And I wanted to be here today so you could see the transformation in real time."

Jelly Woods added a few last touches and dusted Aya-san's forehead and cheekbones with a small amount of highlighting powder.

Aya-san swivelled her chair around and smiled at them. "What do you think?"

Kyouko gasped. Aya-san was stunningly beautiful!

"Oh, wow," said Amamiya-san.

"Oh! Is that you on the wall there?" asked Kanae-san as she pointed to one of the posters.

"Yes, that's me. So I hope you take this lesson to heart: It's best not to compare yourself with other women, because beauty isn't a competition. But if you can't help but compare, at least compare on a level playing field. Compare makeup-free face to makeup-free face, or professionally made-up face to professionally made-up face. Don't feel like you're lacking, because you're not."

"Thank you, Aya," said Jelly Woods. "I wish all young girls could see this lesson."

"Me too." Aya stood up and gestured to the seat. "Who's next?"

Kyouko and her friends looked at each other in surprise.

"We're getting our makeup done too?" asked Kanae-san.

"Of course!" said Jelly Woods. "I can't have such cute girls here without getting to have fun putting makeup on you. Why don't you all take a seat? Aya, would you be able to help me put the foundation on the girls? They're all so fresh-faced they won't need much at all."

Kyouko soon found herself settled in a seat and trying to relax as Aya-san applied foundation to her face. She tried not to stiffen up when Aya-san worked close to her eyes. She'd had some practice at having makeup applied by someone else while filming for _Dark Moon_ , but she still felt somewhat uncomfortable about it. To distract herself, she looked at the reflection of the posters on the wall. One in particular kept tempting her eyes.

"Are you a fan of his?" asked Aya-san.

"Huh?"

"You keep looking at Tsuruga Ren's poster in the mirror."

Kyouko blushed. "Oh, um, it's not like that."

Aya-san bent down and whispered in Kyouko's ear. "If you're hoping to catch him for yourself, word to the wise: he's notoriously hard to catch. I know plenty of people who have tried to go after him, but none of them were successful." She sighed. "There's a rumour that he's gay or maybe asexual. Wouldn't that be a waste if it were true?"

"Neither of those are true," said Kyouko.

Aya-san gave her an odd look in the mirror.

"Oh, um, I mean, I can't believe either of those are true."

"I don't want to believe it either. Just don't get your hopes too high."

"I would never. He's the most handsome man in Japan. He's beyond my reach."

"Aw, but you're super cute. The problem's not with you at all."

Kyouko bit her lip. She would accept the compliment! She would! "Thank you."

Aya-san grinned at her in the mirror. "Good girl! That's how it's done!"

Kyouko sat back and relaxed while Aya-san finished the foundation. She mulled over the woman's words. Who would have thought that Tsuruga-san had a reputation like that when he was such a natural playboy? Sure, she knew through being Bou that he wasn't willing to fall in love, but Kyouko wasn't so innocent that she thought everyone waited until they were in love to do ... things. Also she thought (hoped!) that whatever pain he was suffering to make him think that way hadn't always been there. She sighed. He must have lots of experience at keeping his liaisons quiet and private. She couldn't believe that a man who had an Emperor of the Night look could actually be that hard to catch. And he definitely wasn't gay — she was sure of that because he'd mistakenly turned that look on her several times. Her only conclusion was that he must have had lots of girlfriends but kept the relationships secret.

She did her best to ignore the twinge in her chest.

After they all had foundation, Jelly Woods did the rest of their makeup, one by one. She explained what she was doing as she went and gave them advice on what colours suited each of their complexions. Amamiya-san received cat-eye eyeliner and Jelly Woods demonstrated how they could use a teaspoon to help them draw eyeliner like that for themselves and keep it symmetrical. Kyouko was surprised when Jelly Woods chose a dark lipstick for her, so dark it was nearly burgundy. She demonstrated the importance of lip liner with dark lipsticks and showed them how to match lipstick and lip liner shades. All in all, the makeup lesson took an hour and they received a wealth of knowledge in the process.

"Well, what do you think?" Jelly Woods said when she had finished.

"I look so cute," said Amamiya-san.

"Thank you for all the advice," said Kanae-san. "It's much appreciated."

Kyouko started at her own reflection. "I was really surprised when you chose colours like this for me," she said. "But it does work. I think you can do anything, Muse. You really are magic."

"Aw, thank you, but I think a lot of it is down to you. What do you think, Aya? What's your professional opinion of these girls?"

"Chiori-chan is right, she is cute. She could easily be a model in the teen magazines modelling the latest fashions for young people. Kanae-chan has the build, poise, and classic beauty for the women's fashion magazines or catwalk modelling. And Kyouko-chan ..."

Kyouko felt nervous. What did that pause mean? She wasn't as cute as the others, was she?

"... When you first arrived, I had you classified as 'cute' like Chiori-chan, but looking at what Ten-san has done with you, I'm stunned by the transformation. You look _so sexy._ "

"Seconded," said Kanae-san.

"Thirded," said Amamiya-san.

"Do you have chameleon blood?" continued Aya-san, "because I really think you could do anything you wanted."

Kyouko blushed. "Actually, I hear that a lot in my acting too. That I look different all the time, I mean. I'm not sure what to think about it."

"It's a good thing, Kyouko-chan," said Aya-san. "It means you have more options than most."

"But it also means I have a disadvantage when it comes to finding loyal fans. My fans often only stick with me for a single project then drop off."

"Well, no one is completely free of challenges. You'll find your way around that, I'm sure."

"OK," said Jelly Woods. "Next is hair."

The next half-hour was not quite as interesting for Kyouko, mainly because she had short hair so her hairstyle was determined more by her cut that anything else. She could tame it with product like she had done to play Natsu on _Box-R_ , or she could let it do what it wanted, like she usually did. She did pick up a few tips on what type of hair product would suit her hair best and when she should deep condition and heat protect her hair.

At the end of the half-hour, Kanae-san's hair was up in a crown-type braid that looked more complicated than it really was, Amamiya-san's hair was tied in a cute low, voluminous bun that managed to hide the scar on the back of her neck, but Kyouko's hair was much the same as always. OK, maybe it was a little neater and better behaved than normal.

While the girls were still inspecting each other's hairstyles, Jelly Woods walked over to a set of double doors at the far end of the room. She opened them wide, displaying an overstuffed, over-sized wardrobe of fashionable clothes.

"Ta-da!" she announced. "The part we've all been waiting for!" She wheeled out an empty free-standing clothes rack, rubbed her hands together, and then dived into the wardrobe. She became a flurry of activity, flicking through the racks of clothes while muttering to herself. Every now and then she removed something from the wardrobe and hung it on the free-standing rack.

"Would you do me a favour, Kyouko-san?" asked Amamiya-san quietly.

"Sure. How can I help?"

Amamiya-san handed her a hand mirror. "Would you be able to hold this up so I can take another look at the back of my hairdo?"

Kyouko knew that Amamiya-san wanted to double-check that her scar was really hidden, but she didn't want to bring attention to the other girl's nervousness. She followed Amamiya-san and held the hand mirror up for her.

"You look super cute, Amamiya-san," she said.

Amamiya-san smiled at her in the wall mirror before looking at the nape of her neck again. "Thank you. You don't have to call me that, though. Chiori is fine. I call you Kyouko, after all."

"It's really OK?"

"Of course! You even have a cute nickname for Kanae-san. Aren't we friends too?"

"Yes! Of course we are, Ch-chiori-san."

"Thank you for your help," said Chiori-san.

Jelly Woods was literally chortling to herself with glee as she brought out another armload of clothes. "All right, who's first?"

Kanae-san walked over to where Kyouko and Chiori-san were standing and shoved Kyouko between the shoulder blades. "Start with her."

"Eh?" said Kyouko.

"Here you are, Kyouko-chan." Jelly Woods held out a dress on a hanger. "Pop into the changing room there and try this on."

Kyouko eyed the dark red, slim dress. "I can't wear a grown-up dress like that!"

"Of course you can, Kyouko-chan. You're seventeen, not seven. Now go on. Quick, quick!"

Kyouko hesitantly took the dress, slipped out of her boots, and stepped into the changing room. She stood there for a moment listening as her friends started going through the clothes that Jelly Woods had selected and commenting on them. She sighed and changed into the dress. She looked at herself in the mirror and blushed: this wasn't like trying on the blue dress at Venus Fort. That dress had been cute. This one could be described as nothing but sexy. It wasn't all that revealing, but it did hug what few curves she had and emphasised them. Plus the colour was rather provocative. Now it was on, she could see that her Muse had clearly planned for her to wear the dress all along. It was the exact same shade of red as the lipstick she was wearing.

Her boots didn't match the dress, and neither did her socks, so she stepped out into the salon barefoot. Jelly Woods knelt down and helped her into a pair of strappy black high-heeled sandals.

"Well, what do you think, girls? Give us a twirl, Kyouko-chan."

She did so, and waited for everyone's opinions.

"Kyouko, you look like you're in your twenties," said Kanae-san.

Jelly Woods tugged on Kyouko's arm and positioned her in front of a full-length mirror. "What I wanted to point out to you was that if you wear a wiggle dress like this on TV, you will look tall and elegant. You know why? Because it is near impossible to judge how tall someone is when they are on TV. I'm sure you've noticed that some of the people you've met in the industry who you had seen on TV before were shorter than you were expecting, right? Well, all except Ren-chan, of course. There's no two ways about it: that boy is tall! But many other people are quite small, right?"

"Ah, yes."

"And since you're average height but slender, if you harness that effect you will look tall and statuesque like a model. So remember this sort of silhouette and consider buying a dress this shape. Also, Kanae-chan is correct. You look really mature. Keep that in mind if you ever want to make the public forget how young you are, eh?" She nudged Kyouko in the side with an elbow.

"Huh?"

Jelly Woods shook her head. "Never mind. Who's next?"

"Should I change back into my own clothes first?" asked Kyouko.

"Of course not! Enjoy wearing the fancy dress for as long as you can. I'll be giving you a few more changes yet anyway."

Several minutes later, Chiori-san stood in front of them modelling a green A-line dress. Jelly Woods used her as an example of how to use one basic dress to make many outfits. She had Chiori-san change shoes, tops and accessories multiple times to create multiple outfits: boots and a jersey, heels and a blazer, a belted over-shirt and sandals, and of course the dress on its own with jewellery as the accompaniment.

"This is how beginning actresses who don't yet have a lot of money give the illusion that they have large, fashionable wardrobes. The one dress becomes as many different outfits as their creativity allows. If the dress is plain enough, no one will even notice that it's the same one being worn over and over."

Jelly Woods supplied them all with multiple outfits to try on. Each time she taught them fashion tips. The advice was practical and aimed at their life stage: often she gave them advice of how to appear well dressed on a budget.

She showed them a million ways to use a scarf, or it seemed that way to Kyouko. She showed them how adaptable a chiffon blouse was and had Kanae-san model one with a fancy, opaque black bra showing through (Kyouko thought the look was both embarrassing and elegant at the same time — what a mental conflict!). She showed them the best cuts of jeans for their figures. All the while, she gave them advice on what dressing style would suit which interview or public appearance type.

Soon the girls were trying clothes on through their own momentum. Even Aya-san had joined the dress-up party. Jelly Woods stepped back and left them to it. She beckoned Kyouko over to join her by the mirrors while they waited for Chiori-san to put another dress on.

"You still look a bit hesitant, Kyouko-chan. Is there something in particular holding you back?"

Kyouko looked down at her feet, which were encased in purple high-heels.

"I'd like to help you," said Jelly Woods. "Would you like to tell me what you're concerned about?"

Kyouko sighed. "I really appreciate what you're doing for us today, and I understood Aya-san's message about comparing myself fairly, but old habits are hard to break. I'm just so used to thinking of myself as plain and boring, I can't help but feel a little silly when I dress up and pretend otherwise."

"What makes you think it's pretend?"

Kyouko sat in one of the chairs. "I've never felt pretty."

"You're so confident in other areas of your life, I have trouble believing it's all just internal anxiety. Did someone say something that you're having trouble shaking? Was it one of the gossip magazines? They aren't to be trusted, you know."

Kyouko shook her head. "Someone I know once said something I can't forget." She fell silent. She didn't feel like telling the whole story.

Kanae-san had joined them while Kyouko was examining her own feet. "If you don't tell her what happened, I will," she said. "I know the whole story, remember?"

"Mouko-saaaan! You wouldn't!"

"I would." She crossed her arms.

Kyouko sighed. She briefly told the story of her childhood with Shoutarou, how she ended up in Tokyo, and how she had ended up alone and joining LME.

"He called me plain, boring and unattractive. It wasn't even said in spite. It was his own true feelings, because when he said those words, he didn't realise I was standing there listening. And that's ... Well, if that hadn't happened I wouldn't have found my way to LME and met all of you, but even so it hurt. It hurt a lot to hear my beloved childhood friend, the person I was so devoted to, say things like that about me. He was my most important person at the time. I had no defences against his words."

"Oh, Kyouko." Jelly Woods gathered Kyouko into an embrace. "That's awful. I didn't know that such a thing had happened to you." She held Kyouko's face between her hands. "But listen to me: that guy's words aren't worth listening to. I know it's hard. It's something all humans do. We hear a hundred words of praise and feel fairly happy, but then just one bad word will reverberate through or minds and plunge us into the pit of despair. But that one bad word, no matter how heavy it feels, doesn't carry anywhere near as much weight as all the good words. Listen to them. Listen to your friends. Listen to your fans. We all think you're a wonderful, talented, kind, beautiful young woman. Don't we?"

Kanae-san coughed into her fist. "Uh, yeah, what she said."

"You really mean that?" Kyouko looked back and forth between the stylist and her best friend.

"Of course," said Kanae-san. "You think I would have a plain, boring, unattractive best friend? I don't think so!"

"And some of the roles you have played have needed you to be beautiful to play them," continued Jelly Woods. "It's not just the makeup. I can make anyone look nice. I can enhance their best features and bring out their personalities. But to make someone stunningly beautiful, even with the best makeup in the world, they have to have a lovely facial structure at the very least when they don't have makeup on. So please: don't ever shrug off compliments with 'It's just the makeup,' especially in interviews. All you will do is make some of your fans who really are plain by modern beauty standards feel very annoyed, and they won't be your fans anymore. OK?"

"I don't want to make my fans upset!" said Kyouko. She covered her mouth with her hands and desperately thought over everything she had said in interviews, hoping she hadn't already insulted her fans.

"So just say 'Thank you' when given a compliment, like I said earlier."

"OK."

"And don't dismiss the compliment internally, either. Forget what that guy said way back when. Is he important to you now?"

Kyouko vigorously shook her head.

"Then why are you acting like his words are still important? Like they're more important than the words of your current friends?"

Kyouko gripped her knees and stared at her hands. "I hadn't thought about it that way. I'm sorry, Muse, Mouko-san."

"Don't apologise," said Kanae-san. "Just listen to us now and in the future, OK?"

"OK."

Soon after, Jelly Woods clapped her hands. "OK, girls, I've saved the best until last." She wheeled another rack out of the wardrobe. "These clothes are the leftovers from last season, and as such I don't need them anymore. Take your pick."

"You mean, take them home?" asked Chiori-san.

"Of course! They were all freebies for photo shoots anyway. Models' perks." She pulled a top off the rack and held it up against Chiori-san. "I think this one would suit you. What do you think?"

Kyouko smiled to see the enthusiasm of her friends as they hunted through the rack for clothes they liked.

"You too, Kyouko-chan. Come on!"

Kyouko grinned. "OK."

* * *

OverheardAtLME 2 h  
"I'm 110% certain that your immense wisdom comes from your magical fairy witch blood!"

* * *

 **Next time: The president makes someone an offer they can't refuse.**

* * *

 **It took me a lot longer to write this chapter than I was expecting. I could talk about how it's quite long, or how I'm not very feminine myself so writing about makeup and fashion was a little hard. But to tell you the truth, what happened was that I decided to try watching this '** _ **Miraculous Ladybug**_ **' cartoon I heard about on Tumblr. I lost several writing days this week, but I have now watched all the** _ **Ladybug**_ **episodes available ... orz.**

 **I brought up a polarising issue in my last chapter. From the reviews I received, it seems that the fandom is split between people who think Shou and Shouko sleep together and those who don't. The reviews I received (admittedly a small sample size) suggest that there's a fairly even split between the two groups. I thought about this split in the days after I posted the chapter. It hadn't really occurred to me that there would be many people who don't think they sleep together, but then I'm sure that all of you who think that they don't were rather surprised to see that I think they do.**

 **My thoughts turned to how subjective fiction is. A story, once told, is no longer just the author's ideas. It becomes a chimera of the author's and the reader's ideas. No two people ever read the exact same story because their interpretation is coloured by their own unique life experiences and the things that other people have told them about their own lives. Therefore, whatever your opinion on the matter of Shou and Shouko's relationship, you're correct. There isn't just one story here.**

 **I don't want to try to win you over to my side. I don't think my interpretation of** _ **Skip Beat!**_ **, or of any other story, is any better than anyone else's. I hope that those of you who don't agree with my interpretations aren't too put off by the difference, though. Fanfiction is all just fun and games, after all.**

 **If you're interested in why I have the opinion of their relationship that I do, I plan to very shortly write another scene from Shouko's point of view that will include my interpretation of what her canon thoughts about Shou and Kyouko might mean.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter** **13**

 **Author's Note:**  
 _ **Skip Beat!**_ **and its characters belong to the creator Nakamura Yoshiki.**

 _ **Skip Beat!**_ **is serialised in 'Hana to Yume' magazine (Hakusensha) and licensed in English by 'Shojo Beat' (VIZ Media, LLC).**

 **The work below is written in the spirit of fan appreciation.**  
 **UK English has been used throughout.**

* * *

 **-** _Apparently she then overheard him telling his manager that she was plain, boring, and unattractive, and that he had only brought her to Tokyo to be his maid while he made it in show business. Can you believe that?-_

Lory sighed and rubbed a finger between his eyebrows in an attempt to shift the headache that had settled there. _So_ that's _why LoveMe no. 1 came to LME in that state._ Lory had known that the singer Fuwa Shou had something to do with Mogami-kun's past, but he hadn't uncovered the details until now.

"That manager being Aki Shouko?"

- _She didn't say the manager's name.-_

"OK. Thank you, Ten. Did she say how long before she approached LME this happened?"

- _I got the impression it was mere days._ -

"That sounds about right. She was in a very scary mindset when she auditioned. It hurt my heart to see a girl damaged that way."

- _At least it seems that Kyouko-chan has been dealing with it in her own way since then. Kanae-chan said that she knew the whole story, so Kyouko-chan must have told her. That's good, right?-_

"Yes, it's very good. I also think she's talked to Ren about it. He seems to know a lot about her past, more than I would have expected."

 _-I have an appointment with Ren-chan this evening. Should I try to get more information out of him?-_

"I doubt you could do it in a surreptitious way. He's an untrusting guy."

 _-That's just with you, Darling. He's learned from experience.-_

"Hmph! Anyway, thank you for taking such good care of the LoveMe girls."

- _Anytime, Darling.-_

Lory sat pondering for a while after the end of the call. What he'd learned from Ten would bear on his next appointment of the day. He would have to be on his best behaviour and resist the impulse to protect LoveMe no. 1 to the detriment of the opportunity before him.

* * *

Shouko sat in the opulent waiting room and tried her best not to fiddle with the hem of her skirt. She'd heard many crazy tales about the president of LME, but surely they were just that: tales. She still couldn't believe that Kyouko-chan had arranged this meeting. As far as she knew, the girl was far down the list of talents, languishing in an embarrassing reserve section. What had the girl done on her behalf to get attention? Maybe she was closer to LME's top actor Tsuruga Ren than she had thought. Shou wouldn't like that. Wait! That wasn't her business anymore.

A man in very old-fashioned Western clothes and a curly gray wig interrupted her reverie. "The president will see you now, Aki-sama."

Shouko followed the man through the opulent double doors into the office beyond. She felt like she was walking into a Western period piece. The man behind the desk wore a voluminous curly black wig and fancy silk clothes. He had a powdered face and a stick-on beauty spot. The furniture matched his look. All in all, she felt like she'd stepped through time to the palace at Versailles 300 years or so ago to meet a French courtier.

"Please take a seat, Aki-san." The elaborately coiffured man gestured at a chaise longue in front of his desk.

Shouko bowed and took the seat. She was still lost for words. The stories were all true! The man was certifiable.

"As I'm sure you're aware, Aki-san, one of my employees has come to speak to me on your behalf. She informed me that until recently you managed the singer Fuwa Shou at Akatoki, until you had a relationship with him that fell apart and he outed your indiscretion in retribution. Am I correct so far?"

"Yes, sir."

"My employee informed me that your relationship with the singer in question began before he reached the age of consent. Is that also correct?"

Shouko couldn't read anything at all on the man's face. The face powder wasn't helping. "Y-yes, that's correct."

The president stroked his moustache. "I have my informants at Akatoki. None of them have told me about this part of the story. It seems that it's a big mystery at Akatoki why you were suddenly let go. My own employee is the only one who brought me this information. How is that the case?"

"I, uh, had some dirt on someone at Akatoki whose name I can't mention. This person has done something far worse than I ever did."

"Blackmail, then."

"Yes."

"Do you think it will hold?"

"I'm fairly certain."

He steepled his fingers and stared at her intently for a while. Shouko felt a little bit like an animal in a zoo.

"Tell me in your own words about why you became involved with your charge and how you feel about the breakdown of that relationship."

Shouko blinked. Did it really matter? But what did she have to lose at this point? "Well, at first I guess I thought it was cute how helpless he was. He needed me, and that felt good. Maybe that was a misplaced maternal instinct. I don't really know." She shook her head, remembering the early days. "He pursued me for a long time. I knew it was wrong, so I resisted. But then he started staying over, saying that I took care of him better than anyone. I made him sleep on the couch. Then when Kyouko-chan left him and he had to move to a smaller apartment, he got a place in the same building as me. He never stayed there, though. He always came to me, hungry and needing my help."

She paused and looked at the president to see how her words were being received. He twirled a finger to keep her talking.

"I guess I started protesting less and less. And then, I don't know, I just caved in. He's a hard talent to manage, OK? He's stubborn and wilful. I started to think that if he wasn't with me, he'd be searching for what he wanted elsewhere, and then I'd lose track of him and probably his career too. It just seemed like the easy option to give him what he wanted so he'd prefer my company over others'." She hung her head. "I knew it was wrong. Not only because he hadn't had his birthday yet, but because I know that he's in love with someone else and he just can't admit to it."

"Oh?"

"He's in love with Kyouko-chan. I don't know if he loved her when they were childhood friends. Actually, I think he didn't. But this new woman she's become since she started pursuing acting: he's in love with her. I started thinking that if only he would admit to his feelings, if only Kyouko-chan would reciprocate them, then the two of them could have a relationship and what I had with Shou would be over. I tried to encourage them. I was scared to tell him to stop coming to my place because I knew he'd be angry, but if _he_ left _me_ ..."

"You must have held resentment towards Mogami-kun for not taking him off your hands as you wished."

"Maybe. I thought for a while she was just being stubborn too, but I'm starting to get the idea now that she really has moved on."

"She has. It's good to see. She was in a very bad state when she came to LME. She's made a lot of progress. But may I ask, if Mogami-kun's failure to partake in your life's drama in the way you had hoped has caused you distress, why was your first thought to talk to her?"

Shouko gripped her knees. She hadn't thought about that before. "Well, maybe because I knew that she would understand better than anyone. And maybe because she just has a certain way about her. We ran into her at Karuizawa last Autumn. She didn't hold any grudges against me even though I was there the day she learned Shou didn't think as highly of her as she had thought. She was rather nice to me, actually. I was stunned at the time. She has a lot of anger in her, but she doesn't throw it around indiscriminately. And if she's not angry, then she's perfectly sweet and pleasant."

The president nodded. "You know LoveMe no. 1 well. Good."

"'Good'?"

"I'm getting ahead of myself. Thank you for clarifying a few things for me."

"May I ask a question, sir?"

The president wriggled his fingers. "Go ahead."

"Why are you even asking about these things? And why are you concerned about what I think of Kyouko-chan? I know you can't do anything for me and this is all just a formality."

"What makes you think I can't do anything at all for you? You underestimate me."

"But you can't give me a job."

The president ran his hands over his wig and patted the curls back into place. "It's always such a sorry sight."

"What is?" Shouko frowned. Was she being made fun of?

"A beautiful, talented person who is lacking in love."

Shouko crossed her arms. "Love? I don't even know what you're talking about."

"Alas, I'm afraid that's true." He leaned his elbow on his desk and his head in his hand. "I've seen people in your situation before. So desperate that you fall prey to situations that you otherwise would be smart enough to avoid. So starved for love that you look for it in the wrong places."

"I'm not starved for love."

"Aren't you? Tell me, Aki-san, can you honestly say that you love yourself?"

She opened her mouth to answer, but paused. What was it to love yourself? She suddenly wasn't sure that she understood the question.

"You sense it, don't you? The reason you fell into that situation was because there was something lacking in your life and you tried to find it with your charge. But the thing you were looking for wasn't something you could find elsewhere. It was something that you need to find within yourself."

Shouko exhaled heavily. "Pardon me, sir, but what does this have to do with my career, or lack thereof?"

"I can offer you a job."

"Pardon?"

"You'll be on probation, of course. It will be a very junior role, on a temporary contract. You will not be allowed to work with under-aged males, just in case I'm wrong about you and you do have a problem of that kind."

"But you can't offer me work, surely. I've been blacklisted!"

"You said yourself that you've blackmailed Akatoki. And I assure you, if word of your indiscretions gets out, LME will drop you like a hot potato. The reputations of our talent, staff, and company will come before your job security. We will claim we had no idea about your past and that it's a huge surprise. There will be no mention in any of our records about the talk we've had today. Understood?"

Shouko snapped her jaw shut. Somewhere along the way her mouth had fallen wide open in surprise. "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. What duties would you like me to carry out?"

"Aki-san, what do you know about our LoveMe section?"

* * *

Ren sat in one of the chairs in Woods-san's salon. His roots were covered in goopy brown hair dye, as were his eyebrows.

"Then after I did their hair, we had a dress-up session," Woods-san was saying.

If the story wasn't partially about Kyouko, he wouldn't be interested at all, but as it was he listened and participated. "Oh? What kind of dress up?"

"I gave them fashion advice and showed them what kinds of clothes to wear in which promotional situations. I started off by putting Kyouko-chan in a really sexy red dress, though, because I wanted to see for myself if she could carry it."

"Did you take any pictures?" He bit his tongue. How had that slipped out?

Woods-san swatted him on the arm. Hard. "Not for you, I didn't! Today's session was all about the girls, their professional development, and their confidence. It wasn't so I could get pictures for horny young men like you to ogle!"

 _Horny?!_

"Don't give me that indignant look, Ren-chan. I know how you feel about her. The only person in Japan who has known you longer than me is Darling."

She was right about that. It was probably why he had trouble keeping his mask up around her. She'd known him since before he had even sculpted that mask. Hell, she'd helped him _create_ it: the Tsuruga Ren look was her creation. He knew he couldn't fool her into thinking he was a perfect gentleman.

"What do you think I feel for her?" There was no point asking who she meant.

"I _know_ you're in love with her. I knew before I ever saw you look at her. I knew because of Darling's meddling. I know _him_ well enough to know that he would have sent the girl you love to be Setsuka Heel."

Ren snorted.

An alarm went off on Woods-san's phone. "Time to rinse it out. Over here, Ren-chan."

She set him up at the basin and began rinsing the hair dye out. "You know," she said as she worked, "Kyouko-chan said a few things today that made me concerned."

"Oh?" Ren had a sinking feeling in his stomach. Had she told Woods-san about his poor conduct when he dropped the Cain act? He was still half-afraid that he would get in trouble for that one day. He'd treated Kyouko very poorly. He still couldn't believe that she'd forgiven him. She treated him far better than he deserved.

"She told me about Fuwa Shou-kun."

Ren's hands clenched.

Woods-san must have seen his reaction. "Darling said you knew the story and I see that he's right. Is there anything that she would have held back about when she told the story that we should know about?"

"Pardon me, Woods-san, but I'm sure she would have told you as much as she was willing to at the moment. I wouldn't want to go behind her back and tell you more than she would be comfortable with you knowing." He closed his eyes when Woods-san began rinsing his eyebrows.

"Hm," she said. "I can't figure out if I'm more disappointed that I won't get to learn more, or proud of you for immediately considering what's best for her."

"I know which I'd prefer."

She slapped him on the shoulder, lightly this time, then began giving his hair a second rinse.

* * *

A short while later he slid into his car. He was about to put the key in the ignition when his phone rang. This time of night, usually only one of three people would be ringing him: the president, Yashiro-san, or Kyouko. However, when he pulled out his phone he found that the call was from a number he didn't recognise.

"Hello?" he answered cautiously. He didn't want to give his name to an unknown caller.

- _Tsuruga-san? This is Kotonami. I'm sorry to bother you this late. Is now a good time?-_

Kotonami-san? He'd never received a call from her before. It gave him flashbacks to when Kyouko was hip-deep in her family problems with her mother and they'd both been concerned for her wellbeing. "Has something happened to Mogami-san again?"

The girl on the phone burst out laughing. - _Oh, you have got it_ bad. _No, she's fine as far as I'm aware. I got your number from your manager. I accosted him in the hallway. I think he gave it to me because he's scheming.-_

 _"_ I'm sure he is. It's his hobby. What can I do for you?"

- _First, has the dress arrived yet?-_

 _"_ Yes, actually, it arrived today. I also bought us a card to sign."

- _Good. Perfect timing. Second, do you remember how I said you owe me? Because I have a big favour to ask of you ..._ -

* * *

OverheardAtLME 7h  
"What's that thing on his face?" "It's called a beauty mark." "It looks like a small bird pooped on him." "Shhh, he'll hear you!"

* * *

 **Next time: It's party time at the Kotonami household.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter** **14**

 **Author's Note:**  
 _ **Skip Beat!**_ **and its characters belong to the creator Nakamura Yoshiki.**

 _ **Skip Beat!**_ **is serialised in 'Hana to Yume' magazine (Hakusensha) and licensed in English by 'Shojo Beat' (VIZ Media, LLC).**

 **The work below is written in the spirit of fan appreciation.**  
 **UK English has been used throughout.**

* * *

Kyouko waited by the side street behind Darumaya as instructed by Kanae-san. She had no idea yet what she was waiting for.

Tsuruga-san's silver Porsche pulled up to the curb. She smiled automatically at her sempai and waved at him, even though she was surprised to see him. Then she spotted hands waving to her from the back seat. Kyouko bent down.

"Mouko-san? And Chiori-san too?"

Tsuruga-san rolled his window down. "Good evening, Mogami-san," he said.

"Mou, don't just stand there," said Kanae-san. "Get in!"

Kyouko paused.

"We left the front passenger seat for you," said Chiori-san.

Kyouko walked around the car to the passenger side. There was a small niggle in her chest: she hadn't realised that Tsuruga-san occasionally drove the other LoveMe girls too. It shouldn't bother her, but ...

As soon as the door was closed and she had her seatbelt on, Tsuruga-san manoeuvred the car into the flow of traffic.

"M-may I ask where we're going?"

"Kyouko! How could you have forgotten?" asked Kanae-san.

"Oh no! What have I forgotten, Mouko-san?"

"You wanted to have dinner with me and my sister as research for the drama, remember?"

"Oh, yeah. But ...?"

"I invited Chiori along too so we could make a bit of a party of it."

Kyouko looked at Tsuruga-san out the corner of her eye. He was apparently giving all his attention to the road, not their conversation.

"Oh, him?" said Kanae-san. "Don't worry: I don't make a habit of inviting this guy places. It's just that when I asked my sister if I could have you and Chiori over for dinner to the family house, she said I could if I brought Tsuruga-san too. She's a fan of his and wants to meet him."

Kyouko was surprised by pain in her hands. She looked down and saw that she'd tightened her hands enough to leave nail marks in her palms. If she had been alone she would have sighed or rolled her eyes at herself. If only she had never admitted to herself that she had feelings for Tsuruga-san she wouldn't be feeling what she felt now: petty jealousy at the thought of him being introduced to Kanae-san's gorgeous older sister. She wanted to be better than this. It wasn't as if she really thought he would be interested: Kanae-san's sister had three children, and she was sure Tsuruga-san was too focused on his career to get involved in a situation like that.

Kyouko looked at her sempai again. Maybe he was listening after all, because she thought he had a vaguely embarrassed look about him. Good.

Before long, they reached the street that Kanae-san's family lived on. Kanae-san gave Tsuruga-san instructions on where to park the car. They all piled out, and Kanae-san immediately grabbed Kyouko's arm and dragged her towards the house.

"It really is the first time I've asked Tsuruga-san for a favour, OK?" she said as she dragged her along the road. "I just want you to know that."

"Why?" Kyouko looked back at Tsuruga-san and Chiori-san. They seemed to be taking their time. Soon they were out of sight around the corner.

"Chiori also hasn't socialised with him before."

"I don't understand what you mean, Mouko-san. Slow down! We're leaving the others behind!"

"I mean, we're not going behind your back or anything. Despite the fact I asked for the favour, I think he's only here for you, OK? He wouldn't have come just for my sister. And I'm going to warn her that he's not really available."

"I don't get what you mean, Mouko-san." The reminder that Tsuruga-san had a girl he liked stung a little bit.

"What I'm saying is, even though my sister asked me to bring him, I mostly brought him as a diversion."

"Diversion?"

"For the kids. I reckon he'll be better than sweets, although I'm all stocked up on them too." She shook a plastic bag she had brought with her from the car. "You want to talk to me and my sister together, right? Well, to keep the brats off us long enough to do that we need to wave something more interesting around in front of them."

Kyouko snorted at the mental picture of a dozen children using Tsuruga-san as a jungle gym. "Wait, did you warn him?"

"Why on Earth would I do that? It would spoil all our fun."

They stepped into the genkan* of the Kotonami household. "I'm here!" Kanae-san called.

"Yay! Kanae-nee-chan" called several childlike voices from in the house. Kyouko froze at the sound of thundering feet. A moment later, the two LoveMe girls were hit by a tidal wave of children.

"Oooh! It's Kyouko!"

"Kyouko-onee-san! I saw you on TV!"

"Kyouko! Kyouko! Look, I learned how to do cartwheels!"

Kyouko couldn't for the life of her remember which child was which. She vaguely remembered that the older seven were Kanae-san's younger siblings, and the younger six were her nieces and her nephews. She stood stunned, not sure which one to talk to first.

"Back off, you brats!" said Kanae-san as she lobbed sweets into the crowd like a performer at a street parade. "At least let her enter the house properly before you jump all over her!"

Kanae-san's older sister stepped into the hallway. "Kanae! I thought you said you were bringing several people for dinner! I bought enough food for four extra."

"The others are outside. I'll go get them. Could you take Kyouko and get her settled in the living room?" Kanae-san then walked back out the door into the evening air, lobbing more sweets to distract the children who had noticed her retreat.

Kyouko felt rather unsure without her. She smiled at Kanae-san's sister. "Thank you for allowing me to visit," she said with a bow.

"Come on in, Kyouko-chan. Would you like a cup of tea?"

A minute later, Kyouko sat dazed at a table on the floor in the living room surrounded by children talking over the top of one another. She couldn't follow a single one of their conversations. She was saved when Kanae-san reappeared, Tsuruga-san and Chiori-san in tow. Kanae-san held out a chiller bag, laboriously made her way across the room with children hanging from her legs, and presented the bag to her sister. "Here: meat for the stew."

"Meat?! Thank you, thank you, thank you, Kanae!" She moved to take the chiller bag, then spotted the new arrivals who were still standing stunned in the doorway. "Oh my God!" she screeched. "It's Tsuruga Ren!"

"Why are you so surprised? You told me I could only have my friends over if one of them was Tsuruga Ren."

"I was joking, Kanae! I didn't think you actually knew him!" She patted hastily at her hair and brushed at the stains on her apron.

Kanae-san leaned forward and whispered something in her sister's ear. The older woman's eyebrows rose and she glanced briefly at Kyouko.

"Welcome to the house, Tsuruga-san, and ...?"

"Amamiya Chiori," said Kanae-san.

"Chiori-chan. I have tea steeping for Kyouko-chan already. Will tea be OK for you too, or would you like something else?"

"Tea would be fine, Kotonami-san, thank you," said Tsuruga-san.

"Yes, tea, please," said Chiori-san.

Kanae-san's sister smiled at them. Instead of immediately returning to the kitchen, she picked up a broom that rested against a wall and thumped it on the ceiling.

Footfalls clattered down the stairs and one of Kanae-san's brothers appeared, a toddler balanced on his hip. "Yeah?"

"I brought guests, Nii-san," said Kanae-san. "Can you guys come down and distract the kids long enough for us to get settled and stuff?"

"Oh! Welcome! I'll just go get the others."

Soon afterwards, all the adults had arrived from around the house. It seemed Kanae-san's parents were away on holiday again, so the adults included her two brothers and their wives. They brought the youngest children down with them. Kanae-san had acquired a new niece in the year since Kyouko had last visited the house: one of the sisters-in-law carried a small baby in a sling. If Kyouko wasn't mistaken, there was another baby on the way as the other sister-in-law looked a bit round in the stomach and had a healthy glow about her.

Kanae-san did a quick round of introductions, but just like last time all the names went in one ear and out the other for Kyouko. There were just so many of them!

"I think I've seen this Onii-san on TV," said one of the children, pointing at Tsuruga-san.

"And this Onee-san is on the same TV show as Kyouko-onee-chan," said another child as she pointed at Chiori-san.

"Are you _all_ actors?"

"Of course they are," said Kanae-san. "They're all my friends from work. Hey, you two: don't just lurk in the doorway. Sit with Kyouko."

Tsuruga-san and Chiori-san both edged into the room. Tsuruga-san in particular looked rather uncomfortable and he appeared to be keeping a close eye out to make sure he didn't stand on anyone as he carried a large box over to Kyouko's side of the room. Two of the young boys started playfighting and rolled into his feet. He froze and then looked imploringly at Kanae-san.

"Oi! Move it, brats!" She said as she prised the kids away from Tsuruga-san's feet. She then turned to her older brothers. "Can you _please_ keep them busy for a few minutes? We have one little thing to do first."

"I don't know why you think there's any controlling them at this point, Kanae," said her next oldest brother. "Just give in to the madness. You know you want to."

She sighed and then sat across the small table from Kyouko. Tsuruga-san sat beside Kyouko and Chiori-san sat beside Kanae-san.

"I'm so sorry about the chaos," said Kanae-san.

"Like you said, Mouko-san, this is all my fault for asking for this. Blame me."

"I _do_ blame you, Kyouko." But she smiled as she said the words. Kyouko returned the smile. Her friend was finally thawing up around her, just a little!

"Hey mister," said one of Kanae-san's nephews as he tugged on Tsuruga-san's sleeve. "Are you Kanae-oba-san's boyfriend?"

"No, I'm not."

"Can you do cartwheels?" said another nephew.

"Uh, probably not in here. I think I'd kick the ceiling."

The boy giggled. "Come outside and play with us. I can do awesome cartwheels! My Nii-chan can't yet, even though he's older!"

"The mister will come out and play in a few minutes, OK?" said Kanae-san. "We're just going to do something real quick and then you can play with him all you want."

"Yay!"

"Wait, what?" said Tsuruga-san.

Kanae-san grinned at him. "The main purpose of this evening is for Kyouko to do some research for her role. She can't do that well if children keep bothering her. You can distract them can't you? For _Kyouko's_ sake?"

"Uh, sure." Tsuruga-san looked a little pale.

Kyouko leaned towards him. "Are you OK?" she whispered.

He leaned towards her too. "Yeah. It's just that I don't think I've ever seen this many children in one place since I was at Elementary school."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. And then there were teachers and rules and stuff, so it wasn't this chaotic."

"Yup." He laughed quietly, and she joined him.

"What are you two whispering about?" asked Chiori-san.

"Nothing," said Kyouko.

Kanae-san waved at Tsuruga-san and pointed at the box he had brought in.

"Oh!" he said. He put the box on the table in front of Kyouko. "This is from all of us." He gestured at the two other LoveMe girls. "We wanted to get you something as congratulations for getting another role without needing to audition."

"But that was only because—!"

"Uh-uh," he cut her off. "It was because of nothing but yourself."

She clamped her lips together, belatedly realising that she couldn't mention the Heel siblings in front of others.

"Please, Kyouko, let us give you this," said Kanae-san.

Kanae-san's two younger sisters were eyeing the white box with the blue ribbon tied around it. "What's that?" asked the older one.

"Let her open it first. It's a present for Kyouko."

"Go on, Mogami-san," said Tsuruga-san.

Kyouko bit her lip and tugged on the ribbon. She removed the lid and then folded back the tissue paper inside. "Oh! It's the dress!" She jumped up and backed away. "Are you all crazy? I remember how much it cost!"

"It's OK, Kyouko," said Chiori-san. "We all chipped in, so it's fine." She gave Kanae-san a sidelong glance and grinned.

"Yashiro-san chipped in too, although he couldn't be here this evening because of a family thing," said Tsuruga-san, "so the cost was split between four of us."

"But even so—! And you two saw stuff at the mall too. Why buy something for me?"

"Kyouko, you baka," said Kanae-san. "Chiori has parents who buy her things, I have my lucrative second job so even though I have to spend heaps on this lot," she waved her hand at her family, "I usually have enough to get myself something nice every now and then. And as for this guy," she nodded at Tsuruga-san, "He drives a goddamned Porsche! You're the one who most deserves to be treated, Kyouko."

"Oooh, Oooh!" said one of Kanae-san's sisters as she leaned over Chiori-san's shoulder to get a better look at the present. "Can I try it on?"

"No! It's Kyouko's!" said Kanae-san.

Kyouko gingerly lifted the dress out of the box and held it up. It was as gorgeous as she remembered. She couldn't believe her friends had actually bought it for her! Sure, she had loved the dress when she had tried it on, but it wasn't the sort of thing she had ever imagined having in her closet.

"Oh, wow!" said Kanae-san's older sister as she placed a tray with a teapot and four cups on the table. "What a gorgeous dress! Is it your birthday, Kyouko-chan?"

"No! These crazy people bought me a present for no good reason!"

"Mou! We had every good reason. We already told you!"

"Kyouko-chan, why don't you use my room to try it on?" said Kanae-san's older sister. "It's the third door on the left upstairs."

Kyouko nodded. "Thank you." She was embarrassed about all of the attention, but she couldn't give the dress back, and since she was therefore accepting it, it would be polite to show her friends. Tsuruga-san hadn't seen her wearing it yet. Her cheeks coloured at the thought as she climbed the stairs, the hubbub receding behind her.

The peace only lasted a moment.

The two younger girls who had been interested in the present followed her up and then passed her. "In here," one said while holding a door open.

Both girls followed her into the large and yet very cramped room. There was a large pile of folded futons in the room: apparently Kanae-san's sister's children all lived in here too, and perhaps one or two other children. Kyouko waded through toys to the futon pile and laid the dress down. The two girls sat on the floor and watched her. It didn't seem like they were going to give her any privacy. Kyouko supposed that they weren't familiar with the concept. She sighed and began removing her shirt and jeans.

"Do you have many fancy clothes like that?" asked the younger girl.

"No way! I usually shop at bargain basements." She squirmed at the thought that she had received the dress in front of the strapped-for-cash Kotonami family. She supposed Tsuruga-san and Chiori-san had no idea of the family's circumstances until they arrived, and Kanae-san hadn't even thought about it that way.

"Oooh! Us too! Or we get hand-me-downs from Kanae-nee. I thought an actress would surely have lots of expensive clothes."

"I've only just started in the entertainment business. They don't pay me much yet." She stepped into the dress.

"Is Tsuruga Ren your boyfriend?" the older girl asked.

Kyouko froze and then blushed. She thought she remembered from last year that the girl was in Jr High, even though she looked younger. That was just within the range of Tsuruga-san's potential fan group.

"Ah, no, he's my sempai."

"He straight away sat beside you. Kanae-nee said he isn't her boyfriend, so I was wondering if he was yours."

Kyouko shook her head. "He doesn't have a girlfriend. He's very committed to his acting career."

The girl snorted. "Aw, how boring. I was hoping I'd have some awesome gossip to share at school on Monday."

"What are you saying, Nee-chan?" said the other girl. "The fact he came to _our house_ will keep us in free food at school for at least a month!"

The older girl grinned at Kyouko. "We've already borrowed Nii-chan's phone to take a picture as proof so people will believe us."

Kyouko grinned as she wiggled the dress up over her hips. "That's very wise of you." She reached behind herself for the zipper, but failed to get it all the way to the top. "Um, would one of you be able to help me with the zip, please?"

Soon after, she went back downstairs. The skirt of the dress swooshed satisfyingly as she walked. She shuffled into the living room as quietly as possible. The two girls who had accompanied her, however, made sure her entrance was noticeable.

"Look everyone! Look how cute Kyouko is in her new dress!" called the older girl.

Everyone, absolutely everyone, looked at her. One of the boys, the one just younger than Kanae-san who was probably in Sr High by now, gave an appreciative whistle and was immediately whacked upside the head from either side by two of his siblings.

Kyouko performed a twirl for everyone in the room then walked over to her friends. "What do you think?"

"You already know what we think because we were at Venus Fort," said Kanae-san. "Ask him." She indicated Tsuruga-san with a jab of her elbow#.

Kyouko made the mistake of looking him in the eye when she followed Kanae-san's gesture. He was looking at her with a wee touch of the Emperor of the Night look; just a little, not enough for anyone else to notice, but enough to make Kyouko aware that the dress was more grownup than the clothes she usually wore. Her heart thumped and she wanted to run upstairs and change back into her jeans before the dress caused her trouble.

"You're stunning, Mogami-san," said Tsuruga-san. "The colour suits you well."

She couldn't help it: her cheeks combusted. "Th-thank you," she said.

She hadn't consciously put Jelly Woods' advice into action; it just happened because it had been drilled into her only the day before. She held her breath. How would he react? She usually deflected any compliments he tried to give her. Would he think her conceited for straight away accepting his words? But it seemed that the Muse knew what she was talking about. Tsuruga-san smiled one of _those_ smiles at her, the ones that blew all rational thought out of her head. She'd made him _happy_ by accepting his compliment, like she'd given him a gift in return. Until that moment, she hadn't realised that compliments worked that way. She stood frozen under the weight of the revelation, and he stared back at her with that smile of his sparkling away like sunlight on the sea.

A hand waved in front of Kyouko's eyes. "Oi! Earth to Kyouko!" called Chiori-san in her ear.

Kanae-san tugged on Chiori-san's arm. "Just leave it be," she said. "Kyouko, you'd better change out of that dress before one of the brats messes it up."

Kyouko looked around the room; a lot of people were looking at her. Some of the children looked puzzled. The older Kotonami siblings and their spouses were grinning at her and Tsuruga-san or chuckling wryly.

 _Oh no!_ she thought. _They've all seen through me and realised I have feelings for Tsuruga-san!_ She immediately fled upstairs again to change out of the dress.

She had to wriggle for a while to get the zipper down, just as she'd had to do at Venus Fort. As she did so, she worried. Had he noticed too? Would he laugh at her? She dropped to her knees and face-planted into the pile of futons. _M_ _aybe I can just stay here and live in this room forever. They'd barely notice one more body._ But she couldn't hide upstairs indefinitely. She had no choice but to go downstairs and cover up her awkwardness with her acting abilities.

She folded the dress before she carried it downstairs. It was a good thing, too, because she had to hold it high above another playfight as she crossed the room to put it back in the box. Kanae-san was in the kitchen and Chiori-san was in the corner with an uncomfortable look on her face as the two young girls talked to her animatedly. Tsuruga-san still sat at the table, but Kyouko avoided his gaze. She quickly but carefully rewrapped the dress and then took a long sip of her tea.

Tsuruga-san held something out to her. "Here." His car keys dangled from his fingers.

"Wh-what?"

"It would be safer to store the dress in the car. I'll be giving it and you a ride home anyway."

"Thank you." Kyouko bowed, took the keys, and escaped the madhouse for a minute to put the dress in the boot of Tsuruga-san's car. It felt weird unlocking the expensive car when he wasn't around and putting something in there as if the car were hers. The car keys were a heavy burden in her hand, so she went straight back to the living room, intending to return them to him. He wasn't there, though. She could hear him near the back door.

"I don't have shoes to put on."

"Just take your socks off. It'll be fine!"

Kanae-san appeared in the kitchen doorway. "The boys have carted Tsuruga-san off to the backyard to make him perform for them."

"Ah, the cartwheels?"

"Yeah, probably. Can he do stuff like that?"

Kyouko shivered as she remembered Cain-nii-san plummeting from the scaffolding, twisting in mid-air to make Murasame-san land on the trampoline, and landing on the ground himself like some superhero. What a stunt that had been, now she thought about it without being afraid for his life! "Yeah, he can do amazing things." Despite being uncomfortable holding on to them, Kyouko put his keys in her pocket. It would be very bad if he lost them in the Kotonamis' back garden mid-cartwheel.

"'Amazing,' huh," said Kanae-san. "Come on; if you want to do your research, the best opportunity is now. The kids don't bother the adults who are cooking because otherwise they get given chores."

In the kitchen, Kanae-san's older sister and one of her older brothers, the one with longer hair, were arranging bags of vegetables and rice on the kitchen bench. Kanae-san's sister held her youngest child, a girl who was about 18 months old, on her hip and worked with one hand.

"I have a fourth adult," said Kanae-san as she dragged Kyouko into the room.

"I'm not quite an adult yet," said Kyouko, heat pricking at her cheeks.

"Close enough. It takes four people to cook for this madhouse: two to cut the vegetables," she nodded at the bags on the bench, "and two to make the soup and rice." She gestured at the stove, which had four large pots sitting on it ready to go. "Which do you want to do?"

"Um, I'm fine with either, but can you and your sister do the same chore as each other so I can observe and get some tips for my role?"

"Sure. How about you and Nii-san cut the vegetables and we'll tend the stove?"

Kyouko rinsed her hands, found a chopping board and knife that had already been laid out, and reached for a bag of carrots. "Excuse me, Kotonami-san," she said to Kanae-san's brother. "How many carrots should I prepare?"

He gave her a blank look for a moment. "All of them."

Kyouko gradually worked her way through first the carrots, then the shiitake mushrooms, and then the cabbage. As she did so, she listened to the two nearby sisters. They bickered as they worked, but Kanae-san's sister also gave praise, especially when she opened the cooler bag.

"You brought beef! You're the best sister ever!"

"You bet I am. Don't expect me to do this very often, though, Nee-san. I may have more money than you, but I'm far from rich!"

After a little while, Kyouko realised what she had done wrong in the read-through. Perhaps it was because her only experience of being a little sister was as Setsuka Heel who had fawned over and idolised her brother, but she had got the power dynamics of a sisterly relationship wrong. Kanae-san may call her sister Nee-san, but the semi-respectful term was the only indication of a hierarchy in their interactions. In all other ways, Kanae-san spoke to her older sister as an equal, not someone to look up to. There was no fawning, no deference. And the older sister didn't seem to mind this at all. It was just how they were. When Kyouko had read as Tomoe, she had deferred to Naomi-san's Rina too much in her tone of voice. In short, her performance had been a little old-fashioned.

She grinned as she walked over to the stove to deliver the cabbage. She couldn't help it; despite their ages, the two sisters were squabbling over who had splashed whom with the soup and whether they had done it on purpose.

"Well, you're looking pleased," said Kanae-san to Kyouko, ignoring her sister.

"I think I've got it."

"The role?"

"Yup! I have the main point, at least. I was too deferential, wasn't I?"

Kanae-san frowned. "Yeah, now you mention it, you were a little too polite towards Rina. Are you sure it's just that, though?"

"It's probably more than that. I'll remember this evening and use it to help me as I go. But I think you've already helped me with the biggest issue I have with this side of my character. Thank you so much, Mouko-san!"

"Mouko?!" cried Kanae-san's sister. "What a fantastic nickname for her, Kyouko-chan!"

Kanae-san gave Kyouko a withering look as she endured a fresh barrage of teasing from her sister. Kyouko bowed, gave her friend an apologetic look, and retreated to continue chopping vegetables.

She glanced out the window into the back garden as she worked. Tsuruga-san was still playing with the children. He seemed to have loosened up, or at the very least was no longer stunned by the bedlam. As she watched, he ran at the side of the house, up the wall, and then back-flipped high into the air. He landed neatly on his feet and gave a bow to thunderous applause.

Kyouko felt a flicker of recognition. Was that ...? Did that remind her of ...? No, she was being silly.

"He seems to be doing well out there," said Kanae-san. "Most people would have been sapped of all their energy by now. They're little vampires, you know."

Kyouko looked closely at Tsuruga-san's face. He didn't look drained. Rather, he had a bit of a glow about him as if he was having a good time.

"Thank you for inviting him too, Mouko-san. This is good for him."

Kanae-san stepped over for a moment and stood close to Kyouko, also looking out the window at Tsuruga-san. "Good for him?" she said quietly so the others wouldn't hear.

"Yeah, because he's lonely."

Kanae-san gave her a questioning look.

"I mean, you know. I guess."

"You can't fool me. I know it's more than guessing with you."

Kyouko blushed. "I used to think he must have a lot of people who are important to him, lots of people I don't know. But over time I've realised that I was wrong. If I call in the evening, he's always free to talk, or to spend time with me, or whatever. That means if I'm not calling, then he's just alone, right? He has people like Yashiro-san, the president, Muse, and Maria-chan, but I'm not so sure that he has anyone else."

"He has you, too."

"But I'm not much. I can't do this." She gestured at the madness around her. "Look how happy he seems. I can't do something like this for him because I don't have many people, either. I can't give him an evening where he gets to experience a family's warmth."

"Geez, you speak as if he needs this more than you. He doesn't, you know. You need a family's warmth more than anyone. I'd give you mine if I could — I don't want them. But about that guy, I've never heard that he has a parent who abandoned him, so he can't be as needy as you."

Kyouko felt her stomach flop. She hadn't noticed before, but she hadn't heard him talk about his parents at all. She had no idea what kind of family relationship he actually had. Were they still alive? She had no idea.

"Besides," continued Kanae-san, "you _can_ give him this experience, and you _did_ , because I didn't invite him for me. He's not special to me at all. I wouldn't have invited him if not for you."

Kyouko gave her friend a surprised look. "You invited him for me? Why?"

Kanae-san gave Kyouko a sly look. "There's another way you could show him a family's warmth." She leaned close and whispered in Kyouko's ear. "Marry him and have his babies."

"Mouko-saaaaan!"

Kanae-san quickly stepped away from Kyouko and returned to the stove. "Like, half a dozen disgusting, snot-nosed—"

"Mouko-san, stop! Don't say any more!"

Kyouko looked back out the window to hide her flaming face from her friend. How could she say something so ridiculous? But her face only burned hotter when she saw Tsuruga-san giving one of the little boys a piggy-back ride around the back garden. For a moment she imagined him as a father.

 _Stop that!_ she chastised herself. _Mouko-san is just putting funny ideas in your head. There's no point wondering about such things, because it'll never be your business. Now, chop that tofu!_

* * *

*Japanese-style entryway that is lower than the rest of the house. Shoes are left there, and all guests enter the house in socks or provided guest slippers.

#I'm trying to remember not to show people pointing at each other, since pointing is rude in Japan. Various other body gestures are often used informally to get around the taboo.

* * *

 **Next time: The party continues.**

* * *

 **I've been looking forward to getting to this part of the story ever since I started writing this fanfic. It was one of the first scenes I thought of. I had expected to cover the whole evening in one chapter, but this part is so much fun to write that I don't want to hurry it along. I am having a little trouble, though, in that Nakamura-sensei never actually named any of Kanae's family. I hope the linguistic hoops I had to jump through to keep them all nameless weren't too painful to read.**

 **By the way, I didn't invent the 'broom ceiling thump': it's something my mother used to do to summon me and my siblings, apart from the two years we lived in an upside-down house that had the lounge upstairs and my room and my sister's downstairs. Then it was a floor stomp.**

 **I hope you don't mind the lack of an 'Overheard at LME' — Chiori is taking the night off at the moment, after all ;)**

* * *

 **Shortly after I posted the last chapter, we had a rather large earthquake in my town (Christchurch, NZ). A cliff even fell down. We've been having an earthquake swarm ever since 2010, but things had been mostly quiet for a few years. It wasn't pleasant to go through another big one again! All of the earthquakes we've been having are very close to the city and very shallow, so even though they don't look that big on the Richter scale, they feel very strong. They are always sudden and very jolty, not long rumbles like earthquakes that are deeper / further away. I'm writing this on the day that this happened, before I've started writing chapter 14, and aftershocks are rolling through as I type.**

 **I was at a bar / cafe at the time with my writer group. We meet up once a month to critique each others' stories. (This is for my original fiction, not my fanfiction.) The bar is in a rather flimsy building, more like a shed really, and it clattered loudly. The four of us tried to get under the table, but we didn't all fit properly. It was a sturdy table, though.**

 **Today's events have made me think about what is often missing in manga set in modern-day Japan: earthquakes and aftershocks. I guess that's because adding in, for example, the great earthquake of 2011 would set an official date to the manga, whereas they are usually written in the 'eternal present'. But our beloved characters would have at some point gone through all of that stress and strife. We just didn't see it.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

 **Author's Note:** **  
** _ **Skip Beat!**_ **and its characters belong to the creator Nakamura Yoshiki.**

 _ **Skip Beat!**_ **is serialised in 'Hana to Yume' magazine (Hakusensha) and licensed in English by 'Shojo Beat' (VIZ Media, LLC).**

 **The work below is written in the spirit of fan appreciation.** **  
** **UK English has been used throughout.**

* * *

Ren didn't notice when he started feeling more comfortable around the Kotonami children. He supposed it was around the time that he tried thinking of them as a group of extra rambunctious Maria-chans. He'd known Maria-chan for quite a few years, ever since she was a toddler, and he'd played with her many times. It turned out that entertaining little boys wasn't all that much different from entertaining little girls.

Also, he remembered entertaining another small child once upon a time in a forest clearing. He had been a child himself at the time, but some of the things that had entertained her entertained these boys too.

The children made him perform like a circus acrobat: cartwheels, back-flips and handstands. They were all fairly easy things for him to do, even though he wasn't wearing shoes or his sportswear. His feet were getting a little sore, though: except for the occasional beach photo shoot, he hadn't gone outside barefoot since he had moved to Japan. It usually wasn't the done thing.

As time went by, he was sure the children multiplied. At first he only had a gaggle of small boys asking him to do this and that, then trying to emulate him. Then suddenly there were a few older boys in the mix being just as rambunctious. The two girls stood against the wall watching. One of them took a picture with a cell phone. Ren wished Yashiro-san had been able to come too; crowd control would have been a good idea.

Kyouko's friend Amamiya-san had followed the young girls out and stood with them. She didn't appear to be paying him much attention, though. Instead, she was absorbed in her phone. She, at least, didn't seem to be taking pictures.

The fun and games all came to an abrupt end when one of the small boys started crying loudly. Ren froze, afraid that he'd unknowingly knocked into him. But the boy grabbed at himself and a moment later a puddle began to collect at his feet.

"Oh, uh," said Ren, looking helplessly at the house. The other boys were no help; they just laughed at their brother's / nephew's / cousin's predicament.

The elder of the girls standing by the house strode forward. "Don't just laugh!" She sounded a lot like her older sister. She held out her hand to her nephew. "Come on, let's go get you changed." She led her nephew into the house and many of the other children followed, still laughing.

Ren felt sorry for the little boy. He hadn't really thought about it before but siblings could be cruel. He'd always wanted a little brother or sister. On balance he supposed it would have been good to have one, but there would have been bad moments too.

He followed the kids inside and slipped his socks on at the back door.

"I suppose with this many kids, the older ones look after the younger ones," said Amamiya-san as she stepped into the house.

"Yeah, I guess," he replied. "Do you have any siblings, Amamiya-san?"

"No. You?"

"No. This is a new experience for me. It will make good research for possible future acting projects."

"Hm, yes." She had a faraway look about her. She pulled out her phone again.

Ren supposed he was boring her, so he stepped further into the house and went looking for an adult. He went into the living room and told the oldest Kotonami brother about the accident. Then he went looking for Kyouko and found her in the kitchen. He lurked in the doorway and watched her as she told the oldest Kotonami sister to take a break while she watched the stove.

"You don't have to do that, Kyouko-chan, really."

"No, it's fine, Kotonami-san. I can do this much at least. Have a sit down for a moment. Your feet must be tired."

"No rest for the wicked! But how about this: I'll put another pot of tea on to steep if you tend the stove for a moment. Here." She held her baby out to Kyouko. "Would you hold her too? I need both hands for the tea tray."

Kyouko looked rather uncomfortable as she took the baby.

Ren stepped aside to let the eldest Kotonami sister out of the kitchen. Kyouko was left as the only adult in the kitchen, although it looked like there had been more people helping with dinner until recently because there were several dirty chopping boards out on the bench. He watched as Kyouko awkwardly picked up a large wooden spoon and began stirring one of the pots while holding the baby as far away from the stove as possible. She adjusted her grip on the baby, who seemed perfectly happy to be held by her. Within moments, she looked like she had cooked with a baby on her hip many times before. Ren's heart squeezed at the sight. _She would be such a good mother, but I wouldn't blame her if she never wants to have kids after how her mother treated her._ He sighed. He knew far too much about her past, more than he had a right to know.

"Wow, that's some expression you have there, Tsuruga-kun."

Kotonami-san's older sister had returned with the tea tray.

"Huh?" he asked.

Instead of returning to the kitchen, she put the tea tray down again and indicated with a jerk of her head that he should follow her. She sat down at the small table and he did the same, choosing a spot from which he could still see Kyouko through the kitchen door.

"What look?" he asked.

"You had an 'I want to go out right now and buy an engagement ring for that girl' look about you," she said quietly. "I thought I'd better lead you over here before you scared her. Kanae told me you like Kyouko but she doesn't know about it yet."

"Oh, did she?"

Amamiya-san and Kotonami-san both returned to the living room from further into the house. They came to sit with Ren and the older Kotonami sister.

"What's going on?" asked Amamiya-san.

"I was just about to make a pot of tea, but I thought I had better have a quick chat with Tsuruga-kun about facial expressions."

Ren smiled at Kotonami-san. "Apparently you told your sister some things."

Kotonami-san snorted. "Of course I did."

"To be fair, Tsuruga-kun, I would have known even if Kanae hadn't said anything. It's very obvious."

Ren put his elbow on the table and his forehead in his hand. "Why do people keep saying that to me recently? What is it that I'm doing?"

"You keep looking at her all mooshy-faced, like your brains are leaking out your ears," said Kotonami-san.

"What?"

She waved a hand. "Whatever. Something changed a few months ago. Before then, I suspected that you liked her only because of things she had told me, like how you got angry after she appeared in Fuwa's PV. I never saw it in your face. I guess you were hiding it with your acting. But a few months ago you stopped hiding it, whether you realised it or not."

A few months ago? That was when they were acting as the Heel siblings. More specifically, it was when they went to Guam. Had that day affected him that much? Actually, it probably had.

"I wasn't in favour of you pursuing her at first," continued Kotonami-san. "It seemed to me that a man like you could do a lot of damage to a girl like her. But, I don't know, after seeing how well you took care of her around the time she had that run-in with her mother, I figured that you're not just playing around. I believe you care."

"I do," he said in barely more than a whisper.

She glared at him. "If you break her heart, or even if you give her grief by jumping to conclusions and getting stupidly jealous again, you will have to answer to me, understand? She deserves better than that."

Ren gulped. He didn't know yet if he could promise that he wouldn't get jealous from time to time, but she was right: Kyouko didn't deserve that. She deserved much, much better. "I understand."

"Come on, Nee-san," she said. "It's cruel for us to leave Kyouko alone in the kitchen like that." The two Kotonami women then returned to the kitchen, taking the tea tray with them.

Ren looked at the last LoveMe girl, who had sat through the exchange with an interested look on her face.

"Since apparently this is 'Take free aim at Ren's supposedly private feelings' day, do you have anything you'd like to add?"

Amamiya-san tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I didn't know until recently that there was anything developing between you and Kyouko-san. Actually, it was just the other week when we had dinner at the restaurant she lives at and then you rang her that I found out about it."

"Well, that's something at least."

"But I've never really talked to you before this evening, or seen you interacting with Kyouko-san much, so I don't know if that means much."

Ren sighed.

"I went through her cell phone call history. Not secretly: right in front of her. You call her a lot. If she hadn't said otherwise, I would have guessed that you two are already secretly dating."

"We're not."

"Good."

Ren's eyebrows rose. "I beg your pardon?"

Amamiya-san gave him a very intense look. "My opinion of the matter is that Kyouko-san is an amazing actress with great potential. I think she will rise to the very top of the field. And I don't want some guy coming along and distracting her with romance, and weddings, and babies, and all of that. I wish that she pursues acting diligently, and I don't want you to interfere with that."

Ren nodded. "I understand your feelings. I also think that she has amazing potential. I too want her to pursue her acting. No matter what place I will have in her life, sempai or friend or whatever, I will always support her career. I would never dream of making her push her dreams to the side."

"You say that now but ..." She looked through the kitchen door at Kyouko, who still had the baby on her hip. "If she ends up like that, just a housewife raising your kids, or anyone else's for that matter, I will be very pissed off."

"It doesn't have to be one or the other."

"It is for most women in Japan. My mother is a housewife. Kyouko-san's isn't, and look how neglected Kyouko-san ended up."

"Society is changing. And Mogami-san's situation doesn't apply because there were other things going on there."

Amamiya-san crossed her arms. "Well, fine, I guess it's possible. And I guess you have enough money to pay for a housekeeper or a nanny, or whatever assistance you would need in a situation like that. _If_ you ever end up in a situation like that with her."

"Yes, if. I'm aware that it's a very, very big 'if'. In fact, it's far more likely to be a big 'no'."

Amamiya-san nodded. "At least you're not taking her for granted. And I guess you're more stable than a lot of the flighty fame chasers who call themselves young actors. I admire your work ethic." She pursed her lips. "OK. If she is truly interested in you in return then I won't complain. But just as Kanae-san said, if you hurt her, you will have to answer to us. Frankly, I don't care how famous and well regarded you are in the field, or how much money you have. Fame doesn't impress me. I'll do what I have to do to protect my friend regardless." With that, she stood and left him alone at the table.

Ren kept his face blank, but inside he was pleased. He'd learned something very important that evening: Kyouko's friends were true friends, and exactly the kind of supportive people that she desperately needed in her life.

* * *

When dinner was served, the house became quiet(ish) for the first time since Ren had arrived. The children were too busy slurping their soup to make much noise. That's not to say they were entirely silent: the slurping alone was horrendous.

Ren sat at the small table with the LoveMe girls again. The Kotonami family members sat everywhere: at the table in the kitchen, on the sofas, on the floor in the living room, outside in the garden. Two boys even sat on the stairs.

Ren eyed up how much food each of the children had in their soup and rice bowls. There was enough, but only just. Ren took only a small portion for himself. It wasn't as if he needed much and he felt too guilty about eating this family's food to take more. If he had known about their circumstances, he would have done more than just chip in for the package of meat that Kotonami-san had bought. He would have brought a whole box of stuff.

Kyouko eyed up how much food he had taken. For once she didn't say anything. She also only had a small portion. Their eyes met and he knew she was thinking along similar lines as he was.

After dinner, Ren immediately went to the kitchen to start the washing up. He was determined to help out somehow.

"You don't need to do that, Tsuruga-kun," said Kotonami-san's eldest brother as he followed him into the kitchen.

"It's fine, really. I'm good at washing dishes." Ren rolled his sleeves up. He nearly went searching for a plug to fill up the sink like he did at home until he remembered to do it the Japanese way and just wash under running water. It was for the best, he supposed, despite what seemed like a waste of water to his California-raised self. With the amount of dishes he would be washing, he would have to refill the sink many times anyway.

Kotonami-san's brother picked up a tea towel. "Well, OK then. I won't turn down the help if you really insist on giving it."

Kotonami-san's two sisters-in-law delivered stacks of dishes from around the house to Ren to wash, murmuring their thanks. He washed as fast as he could because the pile kept growing. The pile of clean dishes stacked up fairly fast too.

Ren was so absorbed in the chore that he didn't notice when Kyouko came into the kitchen and picked up a tea towel. He only noticed when she took a bowl to dry.

"Mogami-san, you helped cook dinner," he said. "You should take a break now."

"But Tsuruga-san, this looks like a big job," she said. "I want to help."

 _Of course she does,_ he thought. _She always does._ "It's OK. Spend some time talking with Kotonami-san and her sister for your research. This is the best time for that. If you're really concerned, ask your other friend to help. She didn't help with dinner."

Kyouko bit her lip and then nodded. She smiled, and Ren's heart glowed in response.

"OK, Tsuruga-san. Thank you." She folded the tea towel neatly and then left the kitchen.

"What did you do that for?" asked Kotonami-san's brother. "I get the feeling you want to spend time with her."

Ren eyed the slightly older man. "Not at her expense, I don't. She deserves a break." He smiled and then continued washing bowls and chopsticks.

A short while later, Amamiya-san entered the kitchen and sighed. "Drying, is it?" she said.

"Yes, please," said Kotonami-san's brother as he put another stack of bowls away in a cupboard.

Amamiya-san picked up the tea towel and began drying the dishes. The three of them worked in companionable silence for a few minutes.

"Excuse me, Tsuruga-san," said Amamiya-san after a while. "May I ask you a question?"

"Sure, go ahead."

"Kyouko-san said that sometimes you give stern advice. Is that true? I didn't really believe her at the time because you always seem so mild."

Ren held in a laugh. Mild. Was his mask that effective after all? He hadn't had a lot of confidence in it lately, what with everyone apparently seeing through his feelings for Kyouko. "I do give her advice. I guess I must be stern sometimes if she said so. You girls are doing well, but you still have many things to learn. Some of those things I've learned already. Isn't it a good idea for me to pass on what I know to my kouhais within the industry?"

Amamiya-san started stacking dry bowls on the bench. "When I first met Kyouko-san I wasn't in a very good place. I was unpleasant to work with. She's given me a lot of advice since then, and I feel like gradually I'm becoming a better talent. One day I think I will be able to overcome my past and become a fine actress because of her support. That's why I call her my sempai even though I have been in the industry longer."

Ren looked at the diminutive girl. He hadn't really had any interaction with her before that evening. He had no idea he'd find a kind of kindred spirit in her. "I feel that way about her too. I feel like one day soon I will overcome my past once and for all and it will be because of her support. Somehow I don't think I'd get away with calling her 'sempai', though. She'd tell me off for sure."

Amamiya-san smiled. "She would. And then she'd abase herself and apologise for chastising you."

They both snorted and the vivid imagery in their heads. They knew her mannerisms well.

"The thing is," continued Amamiya-san, "One time, Kyouko-san admitted to me that the advice she gave me had originally come from you. So in a way, your advice has helped me even though I didn't get it directly from you." She bowed. "Thank you very much."

"No problem. I'm glad I could help."

"May I call you 'sempai', too?"

"I'd be honoured."

* * *

After they had finished the dishes, Kotonami-san's brother thanked Amamiya-san and then gave Ren a light slap on the shoulder.

"Thanks for your help, Tsuruga-kun," he said. "You're a good sort."

"It was no problem at all."

"Do you play poker? We usually have a game or two after dinner when the children start falling asleep."

Ren had an idea. "Sure. Do you play for money?"

Kotonami-san's brother looked a little unsure. "Uh, we don't usually, but maybe we can play a round like that to see how it goes."

He led Ren out of the kitchen. Kyouko sat at the small table with the two elder Kotonami sisters. All three young women were laughing about something. Ren smiled to see Kyouko having such a good time. He then followed Kotonami-san's brother out into the garden and into a windowless structure that reminded Ren of a bomb shelter. The other adult brother and his wife were already there setting up a card table.

"I brought Tsuruga-kun to play with us. He wants to play for money. What do you think?"

The other brother blinked and then peeked in his wallet. "I only have 1000 yen to play with," he said. "Is that OK?"

"I only have 2000 yen," said his wife. "And I need to do some grocery shopping tomorrow."

Ren nodded. "That's fine. I didn't mean playing with 10,000 yen notes or anything like that."

Over the next hour, Ren played game after game of poker. They kept playing for money, mainly because Ren let a steady stream of money leave his hands and line their pockets. He didn't want to be too obvious about it so he acted his heart out, folding when he had good hands and looking worried when he had bad ones. He also made sure to win a few rounds, but then lose that money again soon after. He wasn't sure that he had convinced them that he was a bad player; his insistence in playing for money in the first place had probably given the game away. But he knew from how Kyouko acted when he tried to pay for things that people who were less than fortunate didn't always feel comfortable accepting handouts. He hoped this method would overcome any reluctance that they would otherwise have of accepting assistance.

Kotonami-san walked into the shelter mid-way through one game. "The kids are all asleep now," she said and sat down to watch.

They continued until Kotonami-san's sister-in-law won.

"Yes! I can afford to buy some tofu and udon as well tomorrow!" she said as she raked another 3000 yen over to her pile.

"Excuse me, Tsuruga-san," said Kotonami-san. "Sorry to bother you, but Kyouko is starting to look sleepy. Do you think you could take her home before she entirely falls asleep?"

Ren shuffled his folded hand into the deck to hide the fact that it had been a full house and stood up. He bowed to his opponents. "I had fun playing with you this evening and I enjoyed the dinner very much. Thank you for your hospitality."

"That's no problem. Thank you for coming."

"Yes, and thank you for helping with the dishes."

"Please, come again."

Ren followed Kotonami-san back to the main house.

"Were you losing money to my family on purpose?" she asked as they walked.

Ren held a finger to his lips in an exaggerated 'shhh' gesture.

"Thank you."

"No problem. Is Amamiya-san ready to go too?"

"Ah, she's going to stay here tonight. She's already called her mother to ask permission. I haven't spent as much time with her as I have with Kyouko so we're going to have a sleepover and gossip session."

Ren didn't know Kyouko's best friend as well as Kyouko did, obviously, but even so he thought that sounded like an unlikely thing for the tall teenager to say. _Isn't this girl supposed to be a tsundere with too much 'tsun' and not enough 'dere'? At least, that's what Kyouko says._

"You don't need to give me such a suspicious look, Tsuruga-san."

"Yes, I think I do."

Kyouko did indeed look a little sleepy. She smiled at him as he entered the living room. "Hello, Tsuruga-san. Where have you been?"

"Playing poker. Would you like a ride home, Mogami-san? It's getting late."

She nodded and began gathering her things.

Kotonami-san, her sister, and Amamiya-san walked them to the door and bade them farewell.

"Thank you for coming," said Kotonami-san's sister.

"Thank you for having us!" said Kyouko.

"No problem. We'd love to have you both around to dinner again sometime."

Ren bowed to the three young women. "Thank you very much. Have a nice evening."

* * *

After they strapped in and before he started driving, Ren looked over at his passenger. "You seem to have perked up."

"Maybe it was the night air," said Kyouko.

He raised his eyebrows.

"OK, maybe I wasn't as tired as I was pretending to be. Mouko-san's sister heard my stomach grumble and said she was going to make me something else to eat. I couldn't bear to take more of their food, so I said I was too sleepy to eat more."

Ren nodded and then started the car. "OK. Do you want to go get something to eat on the way home?" he asked as they pulled out on to the main road through the suburb. "My treat."

"No, that's OK, Tsuruga-san. There will be leftovers at the Darumaya."

"But what would your landlords think of us if I dropped you off at home after dinner still starving? Please? We can get something quick and easy."

"At a conbini* or something?"

"How about gyuudon? Or Gusto?"

"We can't go to places like that. You'll be recognised and then your image will be tarnished! Can you imagine it? 'Super-famous model actor Tsuruga Ren photographed eating at a cheap low-brow eatery with a teenaged girl'. Ugh!"

"We've eaten at that kind of place before."

"Yeah, and some schoolgirls made fun of the improbable sight."

"If I remember correctly, they decided that I wasn't me after all."

"Yes, because it was so ridiculous!"

In the end, Ren won the disagreement, mostly because he was driving and in control of where the car went. He took her to a gyuudon eatery. They took a seat in a back booth and placed orders for a cheese gyuudon for Kyouko and a half-dozen gyouza for Ren.

"I thought you'd order something more traditional than cheese gyuudon," he said.

"I eat traditional food all the time at home. I felt like having an East-West fusion meal for once while I have the opportunity."

"What if the flavours don't go together?"

"It's a very popular dish. I'm sure it'll be nice."

They fell silent for a moment and Ren felt uncomfortable. Kyouko was looking around the restaurant checking to see if anyone was looking at them.

"Did you have fun this evening?" he asked to distract her from her worries.

"Oh, yes! Even though the Kotonami household is chaotic, they still make guests feel very welcome."

"I agree."

"I was really surprised that you came too."

"Ah, that was because of the dress. It arrived yesterday, so Kotonami-san asked me to come along so that we could give the dress to you at the same time."

Kyouko smiled. "That sounds like her. She would want to roll two social interactions into one to get them both out of the way."

Ren nodded. "I haven't spent much time with your friends before, so I was surprised to learn that I have a bit in common with both of them. They both think very highly of you, even if they don't always say so. I think you can count them as true friends, not fair-weather friends."

Kyouko raised her shoulders and stretched her arms out to tap her fingers on the middle of the table in a nervous gesture. She dropped her head down between her upper arms to hide her flushed cheeks and nodded. "Yes, they're the best. I don't know what I did to deserve them."

"You don't need to do anything to deserve your friends. You deserve them because of who you are. That's enough."

She briefly flicked her gaze up to meet his then looked down again. "Thank you for coming too. I know it is presumptuous of me to think of you as anything more than a sempai, but this evening I felt like I was surrounded by friends who care for me."

His heart throbbed. She still had a way to go yet before she vanquished all her demons. He reached out and took one of her hands. "It's not presumptuous. We are friends, aren't we? I feel that way. You helped me through a tough time when I was working on _Tragic Marker_. I know you were assigned that role through work, but to me it felt like more than that. I felt like I was supported by a dear friend. Yes, maybe technically I am your sempai at work. But outside of work, I feel more and more like 'friend' is a better descriptor."

She flushed red. She opened her mouth as if to speak, then closed it again, and her eyes too.

Ren spotted a waiter arriving with their order, so he released her hand. "Thank you," he said as the waiter placed their meals on the table, and nodded at the waiter's 'Please take your time' spiel.

Kyouko seemed overwhelmed, so Ren snapped his chopsticks apart and began eating instead of continuing the conversation. She also started on her much larger meal.

"Mm," she said. "It works!"

"I guess cheese is good on most things," he said.

"Yes. Um, you did well this evening with the children. Do you have much experience with kids?"

He shook his head. "Just Maria-chan. I felt very awkward this evening when the children asked me to play with them. I bluffed my way through." _And remembered how I entertained you as a small child_ , he thought.

"Do you have any siblings?" she asked. Then her face fell. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked. Stupid! I've already decided not to ask you stuff like that."

He stared at her, a gyouza forgotten half-way to his mouth. "Why did you decide that? You have a right to ask me questions." _After all,_ he thought, _Amamiya-san asked me that earlier and I answered. It's not the sort of answer that would give away my identity._

She fidgeted and blushed. She looked anywhere but at him. "I kind of understand that you have something in your past you don't want to talk about and I don't want to push you or make you feel uncomfortable and I want to wait until you're ready to talk and I don't want to force my expectations on you and I'm sorry please forgive me." She bowed in her seat.

Ren sighed and put the gyouza back down. "You've figured out more about me even than I thought you had. You're right, there's a lot I don't talk about. I've never even told you my real name. That's not fair."

"It's OK! You don't need to. I understand. I only told you about Shoutarou because you kept finding out little bits and getting angry about it, so I had to explain. But I'm OK if you don't explain things to me. I don't have a right to know."

Ren's stomach roiled. "Yes, you do. What if you wouldn't like the real me if you knew?"

"It's OK." She waved his words off. "Maybe this is hubris talking, but I think I know more of you than your professional face. 'Tsuruga Ren' is unfailingly polite and gentlemanly, right? But I know you get angry and childish from time to time. Those are your real feelings, I think. And I've always known about that side of you. So it's OK. You don't need to explain any more."

"If you know that about me, why do you keep putting me up on some damned pedestal? Why do you keep saying things that imply you think I'm better than you?"

She blinked at him. "Ah. Well, that's about modelling and acting, right? Because you really, really are. I've been envious of your acting for a _long_ time. I know in your personal life that you aren't perfect and you have problems, but why would I hold that against you? That would make me a hypocrite, because I have my own problems. You've seen me throw my rage around, I'm sure."

He covered his mouth and stared at her. She had a puzzled look about her as if she was surprised she had to explain this.

"So you're saying that you're aware of my bad points, but they don't worry you?"

"Of course, sempai! If you really were as perfect as your work persona, I would have to hate you on principle! I'm not good or pure enough to resist the jealousy I would feel looking on such a perfect person."

Ren couldn't help it: he started laughing. He kept the volume down but couldn't keep his shoulders from shaking. Tears streamed down his face.

"You're laughing too much," she said. She picked up her chopsticks again and ate more of her meal.

"I'm sorry, really. It's just that I realised that my perception of your perception of me has been coloured by my own worries and issues. How stupid is that?"

"I think everyone does that, Tsuruga-san. None of us are robots."

He put his chin in his hand and smiled at her. "So I guess your perception of my perception of you is probably also off? I wonder what you haven't realised." He was pushing the line, but somehow he couldn't help it. His filter had been worn down by all the socialising.

"Playboy," she said and furiously attacked her meal.

* * *

OverheardAtLME 3h  
"This is a new experience for me. It will make good research for possible future acting projects."

OverheardAtLME 3h  
Re: previous tweet. We have very dedicated actors at LME who don't stop thinking about acting even on Friday nights!

* * *

 _*Food terms:_

 _conbini — convenience store_

 _gyuudon — thinly cut cooked beef and onions on rice in a bowl. Cheese gyuudon is the same thing but with grated cheese on top, and is amazing._

 _Gusto — a chain restaurant. Gustos are open 24/7, with the kitchens closing for a few hours in the wee small hours for cleaning. Gustos near train stations are really handy, because if you miss the last train home you can camp out inside drinking cup after cup of free refill coffee until the first train of the morning. They're also great for 2 am pizza / matcha parfait / hamburger steak with egg on top_ (^v^)

 _gyouza — the Japanese name for Chinese dumplings._

* * *

 **Next time: Kyouko and Maria film the first YouTube video.**

* * *

 **This story now has over 100 followers and reviews, and over 10,000 views. Thank you so much, everyone! I didn't really expect this story to get all that much attention. I'm new to fanfiction and this is the very first time I've ever serialised a story like this. My goals were to practice writing and entertain myself during the Saena arc, which is very necessary to the story but, as I'm sure many would agree, was difficult to read in monthly instalments. That I appear to be entertaining so many other people as well is a happy surprise.**

 **This chapter ran away on me even more than the previous one. This plot thread had so much potential to further our main duo's personal development, particularly Ren's. I just couldn't pass up on it. Sometimes when I read other fanfiction I think that although the author worked hard on Kyouko's development, they didn't give enough attention to Ren's development. Maybe it's because I'm quite a bit older than Ren, so from my point of view he's also barely out of childhood. I feel that he is nearly as much in need of growing up as Kyouko is. Maybe from other points of view Ren already looks mature and grownup? I think his jealous possessiveness and his idolisation of her innocence aren't immutable parts of his personality, but rather symptoms of his lack of self confidence and therefore he can grow out of them when he overcomes his past and when he finally opens his heart enough to forge proper friendships with people other than Kyouko.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter** **16**

 **Author's Note:**  
 _ **Skip Beat!**_ **and its characters belong to the creator Nakamura Yoshiki.**

 _ **Skip Beat!**_ **is serialised in 'Hana to Yume' magazine (Hakusensha) and licensed in English by 'Shojo Beat' (VIZ Media, LLC).**

 **The work below is written in the spirit of fan appreciation.**  
 **UK English has been used throughout.**

* * *

"Onee-san! Onee-san! Come look!"

Kyouko barely had a chance to change into house slippers before Maria-chan grabbed her arm and began dragging her through the Takarada mansion. "Please slow down, Maria-chan. I'm carrying eggs and I don't want to break them!"

They walked at a slightly more sedate pace to the cavernous kitchen. Kyouko's jaw dropped. "It's like a proper TV set!"

"Grandfather helped me borrow this equipment from LME, and some people came to set it up. What do you think?"

Two expensive mounted cameras pointed at an area of work surface with a built-in hob: one had a straight view from the other side of the bench and the other looked down at the work surface from the side. Both cameras were hooked up to a computer that sat on a small table beside a director's chair. The chair literally had 'director' written on the back. Each camera had a proper sound boom attached to its stand, and four hooded studio lights stood around the area. They weren't on yet, but they looked like they would give the chosen spot in the kitchen a lovely directionless light.

"I was expecting a hand-held camera," said Kyouko, "or maybe even just a cell phone."

"I wouldn't be able to practice being a proper director with a setup like that, Onee-san."

Kyouko smiled at the little girl fondly. Maria-chan had been brought up in such a different environment than most little girls. She couldn't be faulted for thinking this professional setup for a simple YouTube video was a perfectly normal and reasonable thing.

"I think it's amazing, Maria-chan."

"Will this be enough workspace for you?"

"I think so."

"Would you be able to get out all the implements you need today? I wasn't sure what you would need. Then we can test the cameras and check we've got enough workspace in frame before Momose-san arrives in ..." she checked the wall clock, "one hour and seven minutes."

Kyouko hid a grin as she put the bag of ingredients on the bench and then began looking for the bowls, sieves, cooking chopsticks and rectangular fry pans she would need. Maria-chan already sounded fully in charge of this endeavour, as was needed of the director. This project was more Maria-chan's than hers. She was just the talent.

Over the next hour, Kyouko and Maria-chan worked hard to get ready for the filming. They laid all the apparatus Kyouko would need out on the bench and then Kyouko pretended to cook while Maria-chan filmed her. They then adjusted the camera and light placements until they were sure that they would have everything in frame. Maria-chan taped an 'x' on the kitchen floor with duct tape so they would know where to put the main camera next time. Kyouko was so impressed with Maria-chan's knowledge. Even though she was still a little girl, she had learned a lot about filming over her many years of exposure to the entertainment industry. If she continued to pursue her dream, she really would be an amazing director one day.

About half way through their setup, the president stuck his head into the kitchen. "How are you girls going?" he asked.

Kyouko bowed. "Good morning, president."

Maria-chan was not so welcoming. "Ojii-san! Go away! We can do this all by ourselves!"

The president pouted. "I'm just curious, Maria. Sing out if you need any help."

"We won't need help. Everything's under control. Don't you have a meeting this morning? Go to the office!"

"The meeting is here, and it's not for another hour and a half."

"Then go play an otome game or something."

The president looked at Kyouko and shrugged. Kyouko gave an embarrassed smile: listening to family arguments always made her uncomfortable. The president gave both of them a salute and then shut the door again.

Small patches of angry red lit up on Maria-chan's cheeks. "Why does he always have to be so embarrassing?"

Kyouko smiled at her young friend. "You're growing up so fast, Maria-chan. You already sound like a teenager."

Maria-chan grinned. "Do I? Yes!"

"Are you in that much of a hurry to grow up? You only get to be a child once, you know. You should enjoy it. When I'm balancing my budget to find cash to top up my bus pass or pay my acting school bills, I fondly remember the days when I didn't need to worry about such things. Although, I suppose you never will because of your family."

"I want to catch up to Ren-sama. He'll look after me when I'm a grownup."

 _Out of the mouths of babes,_ thought Kyouko. "A woman should always have the skills and resources to look after herself and go it alone if necessary, Maria-chan, whether she ever has to or not. If you depend on a man too much, financially or emotionally, he'll only let you down." _Like Shoutarou. I'm never, ever forgetting that life lesson!_

Maria-chan looked at her with wide eyes. "That's a very lonely point of view, Onee-san. Did something happen?"

Kyouko gave the little girl a reassuring smile. "Not recently. That's something I learned a while ago. And I don't mean women should be alone. I just mean that you should spend time with the important people in your life because you want to, not because you can't function without them. Ugh! I'm not even sure if I'm making any sense here. I haven't really thought this all the way through yet. It's just some thoughts I've had floating around and your words made me remember them." She stepped over to the kitchen bench again. "Shall we do another test video?"

"Sure, Onee-san."

* * *

"Momose-sama has arrived." The president's assistant, who Kyouko still thought of as 'Sebastian', led Momose-san into the kitchen, bowed, and then left before Kyouko had a chance to thank him.

Momose-san paused in the doorway and looked at the setup with wide eyes. She wore a cute blouse and slacks and she had tied her hair into a braid, perfect for cooking.

"And I thought the rest of this place is amazing. This is — wow! This is like a professional cooking show!"

Maria-chan curtsied to Momose-san. "Nice to meet you again, Momose-san. I don't know if you remember me from the Happy Grateful Party. I'm Takarada Maria, the director. Thank you for agreeing to be our first guest."

Kyouko's heart _kyuuuned_ to see Maria-chan acting so grown-up and professional. _She's so talented!_

"I do remember you. Thank you for inviting me," replied Momose-san as she bowed. A small amused smile briefly flickered on her face before disappearing again. She seemed willing to accept Maria-chan as the director.

"Momose-san! Good morning!" cried Kyouko as she rushed forward. "Thank you so much for taking time out of your weekend to help us out."

"No problem, Kyouko-san. I've never been asked to do anything like this before. I couldn't pass up the opportunity. Besides, I wanted to catch up with you. I've barely seen you since the _Dark Moon_ wrap party."

"Heheh, well, you're so popular and busy, Momose-san. I'm so happy you have time for this video today."

"You're busy too, Kyouko-san! Your new drama is doing well. I've been watching it. Can you tell me any spoilers for the next episode?"

Kyouko blushed. "No, sorry."

"Oh well; it didn't hurt to ask."

While they talked, Momose-san's manager edged into the room and stood near the door. Kyouko bowed to him. "Good morning!"

"Good morning. I'll just stay at the back. Don't mind me."

Maria-chan pulled one of the chairs out from the table near the large kitchen windows. "Please take a seat, Momose-san. Shall we go through the format for the video?"

"Sure, let's do that."

"I'll put some tea on for us," said Kyouko.

"That's OK, Onee-san," said Maria-chan. "I'll do it. This is my house and you're all my guests."

"You sure you don't need a hand?"

Maria-chan put her fists on her hips. "I'm tall enough to make tea now!"

"OK, thank you." Kyouko decided she would keep an eye on the little girl and help her if necessary.

"So, how have you been, Kyouko-san?" asked Momose-san.

"Great! How about you?"

"Busy, but happy. I'm really enjoying my new drama."

Kyouko grinned. "I've been watching it every week. I really want to ask you about it, but I think I should save that for when we're recording the video."

"Ah, good idea."

"Have you seen many of the other _Dark Moon_ cast recently?"

Momose-san shook her head. "No, unfortunately not. No one else from the cast is with my talent agency, and no one was cast in the same drama as me. Speaking of which, I heard that you've just been cast in a new drama with Tsuruga-san. How is he doing?"

Kyouko froze. _I walked into that, didn't I?_

She had thoroughly enjoyed spending time with everyone the previous evening, but the conversation she'd had with Tsuruga-san at the gyuudon eatery had been a little ... odd. Why had he mentioned 'friends'? He wanted friendship while she harboured other feelings towards him, feelings of l... o-of l... Argh! She couldn't even think it. Was she taking advantage of his feelings of friendship for her own selfish reasons? While he had been suffering and looking for support, she had been using Setsuka-san's personality as an excuse to walk in on him in the bathroom and ogle his body! She, Mogami Kyouko, was rapidly turning into a shameless, craven woman!

"Hello? Earth to Kyouko?" Momose-san waved her hand in front of Kyouko's face.

"Oh! Um! Yes! He's fine."

"Kyouko-san, did you have another fight with Tsuruga-san?"

"No, no, of course not! Oh, Maria-chan! Let me do that part!" Kyouko leapt up from her seat and went to fill the teapot from the recently boiled kettle.

* * *

"Welcome to the show! I'm the host, Kyouko. Each week a different talent or actor will cook a dish with me that they have chosen. While we cook together and give tips to you, we'll chat about their latest projects and, well, anything else that comes up, really. So tune in for cooking tips and a look into a different side of the talents and actors that you usually see on your TV screens or hear in the charts.

"Today's guest is the beautiful and talented Momose Itsumi! Welcome to the show, Momose-san!"

Momose-san gave the camera a brief bow. "Thank you for having me, Kyouko-san."

"Not at all! You wanted to have a go at cooking tamagoyaki today, is that right?"

"Yes! No matter how hard I try, I've never quite got the knack of rolling them without tearing the egg. I hope you can teach me how, Kyouko-san."

"I do have a few tips that I'll be able to show you." She smiled at Momose-san, then the camera.

"Cut!" cried Maria-chan.

Kyouko wilted against the bench. "I feel so fake!"

"You're doing great, Kyouko-san," said Momose-san. "Really. If I didn't know otherwise, I would have thought you have experience hosting a show."

"Heheh." She kind of did have experience through being Bou. She was trying to channel a wee bit of the Bridge Rock sempais and how they hosted their show, but change it so that it fitted her show. She felt foolish, though. Hosting was a different sort of thing from acting.

"We've now got six takes of the intro," said Maria-chan. "I'm sure one of them will be workable. Shall we move on to the cooking?"

Kyouko moved all of the ingredients in frame and placed the sieves in the two bowls she had ready to collect the eggs.

"OK, I'm ready to start," she said.

"Me too," said Momose-san.

"And, action!" called Maria-chan.

"The very first thing to consider when making tamagoyaki is the size of the eggs. Recipes usually assume that you will use medium-grade eggs, so try using medium-grade eggs if possible. If you only have small- or large-grade eggs, you'll need to decrease or increase the amount of other ingredients. OK?"

"Hm, I hadn't really thought about that before," said Momose-san. "I just buy whatever's on special."

"The next thing to keep in mind," said Kyouko, "is that you can't hurry the straining process along." She picked up three eggs out of the tray she had to hand and cracked each one into the sieve in the bowl in front of her, one-handed. "You can puncture the membranes to let the contents out like this." She poked through the egg yolks with her cooking chopsticks. "But don't stir them up too much. If you do, too much membrane will end up in the bowl and the egg mixture won't be a uniform texture."

"But it takes ages for the eggs to go through the sieve if you don't stir them."

"Yup, it sure does, but it's worth it. If you're going to make tamagoyaki in the morning, I suggest either putting the eggs in the sieve as soon as you get up and before you've done any other morning tasks. Do you want to crack your eggs into your sieve, Momose-san? Then you can tell me all about your new drama while we wait for the eggs to strain."

Momose-san cracked three eggs into her sieve, using the two-handed method.

"Cut!" cried Maria-san. "Let's have both of you sit on stools in front of the bench while the eggs are straining behind you and while you do the interview part."

They moved two stools into frame and Maria-chan adjusted the main camera's focus.

"Are we on a time limit for this part, Onee-san?" asked Maria-chan.

"No, it's fine if the eggs strain for longer than necessary. We can take our time."

"Good. Talk as much as you want. If we need to cut the interview, we can just cut to the camera over the bench to see the progress of the eggs, even if it's kinda boring, so that there's no obvious jump in the interview part."

"Good idea, Maria-chan! You've really thought of everything!"

Maria-chan grinned then returned to her director's chair. "Remember, you don't need to be all formal like a normal interview. Make it sound more like a chat between friends. And, action!"

"Let's have a chat while we wait for the eggs to be ready. I'm really enjoying your new drama _Mirai_. It's so exciting! What's it like acting in a time travel story?"

Momose-san grinned. "It's so much fun! The drama is both a science fiction and a period piece in one, so one week we'll be doing green screen work, and the next week we'll be on location in period dress. It's so varied!"

"That sounds like so much fun! And a great learning opportunity, too."

"Yes, absolutely."

"Which do you prefer: the future parts or the past parts?"

"Um, I'm enjoying the future parts more because it's such a challenge learning to act on a green screen. There are some sets, of course, but a lot of it is green screen work. It's like a foreign production. I hope I'll get experience that I can use in the future in other projects. I'd love to do a big budget movie one day."

"Like an action movie?"

"Yeah! That would be awesome! I got to do a few stunts in _Dark Moon_ and it kind of whet my appetite."

"I haven't had a chance to do any stunts yet, but I've seen some performed and it looks like a lot of fun. I'd love to give it a go someday."

"You should! I hope someone gives you the chance soon." Momose-san turned to the camera. "Hint, hint, casting directors!"

Kyouko giggled. "So, can you give us any hints about upcoming storylines? Last I saw, your character was stuck in 1575."

"Sorry, Kyouko-san! I can't give anything away. Well, I guess I can say that eventually she'll time travel again, but that's not really giving anything away that couldn't be guessed."

"Ah, well. How about the upcoming _Dark Moon_ DVD release? Did you get to record commentary for any of the episodes?"

"Yep! I recorded three commentaries, one with the director, one on my own, and one with Tsuruga-san. Did you record any?"

Kyouko shook her head. "Nope! I'm still too new in the industry for that."

"That's a shame. You had such a unique perspective on your character. I'm sure the fans would have been interested to hear you talk about that."

"Ah, but there were only so many episodes, right? So the number of commentaries was limited. Do you have any other projects coming up?"

"Um, I have a commercial that will come out soon. I can't say what for yet, but you'll see it soon."

"I'll look out for it! Back to the drama, what can you tell me about your co-stars? What are they like to work with?"

They nattered on for a little while longer about Momose-san's drama, not really bothering to stick to a logical progression of questions, until Maria-chan called "Cut!" again.

"How did we do?" asked Kyouko.

"Good, I think," said Maria-chan. "I think you have a knack for this Onee-san."

"How were my answers?" asked Momose-san.

"Good!" said Maria-chan.

"They were excellent. Thank you so much!" said Kyouko.

Momose-san looked to her manager. "What do you think? Did I stray too much off topic or say anything I shouldn't have?"

"All clear," he said. "I'll be happy with any of that making the final cut."

Maria-chan curtsied to Momose-san's manager. "Thank you, sir." She looked towards Kyouko. "Shall we get ready for the cooking part?"

They readjusted the cameras, set another two batches of eggs to strain just in case, and spent the next half hour filming the cooking of the tamagoyaki. Kyouko explained for Momose-san and the camera her ideal seasoning mix for the egg mixture and demonstrated the cooking method. She showed how to apply the right amount of oil to the rectangular pan between each egg pour using a folded paper towel, and she explained the angle she held the pan on to roll the egg without tearing or scrunching it. She explained how she stirred the egg mixture before each pour to keep it from separating out and making an uneven texture.

It was a good thing Kyouko had thought to put more eggs in the sieves because they both tore their egg rolls half way through. It was easy enough to make up a new batch and do a new take.

Finally the two young women sat in front of the bench again, each with a plate of sliced tamagoyaki and a pair of chopsticks.

"Shall we?" asked Kyouko.

"Let's!"

They each picked up a slice and ate it.

"Mmmm," said Momose-san around her mouthful. She swallowed. "Perfect balance of sweet and salty! And I can't believe my tamagoyaki is still fully holding together! Thank you so much!"

"No problem!" said Kyouko after she swallowed her own mouthful. "I'm glad I could help. Thank _you_ so much for being on the show."

"Thank you for inviting me."

Kyouko turned to the camera. "And thank you for watching. I hope my tips help anyone who is having trouble with their tamagoyaki. Let me know in the comments below if you're still having trouble and I'll see if I can give you some advice. This will be a continuing series. Each time we will have a new guest from the entertainment industry and we will demonstrate a different food. So if you want to see more videos like this, please subscribe to this channel. See you next time!" She waved at the camera, as did Momose-san.

"Cut!" cried Maria-chan.

Kyouko put her plate down on the bench behind her. "Whew! I still feel so weird saying stuff like that."

"You'll get used to it," said Momose-san.

"How was it, Maria-chan? Shall we do another take of the end?"

"Yeah. You each have four slices of tamagoyaki, right? Let's do four takes just to be sure."

Kyouko picked up her plate again and put on her 'host smile'.

* * *

Kyouko walked Momose-san and her manager to the door of the mansion. "Thank you again for participating," said Kyouko. "It means a lot to me that you'd take time out of your busy schedule to appear in our little YouTube video."

"No problem, Kyouko-san. It was good to catch up. I'm looking forward to seeing the final video."

"We'll email you the final cut to approve before we go live."

"OK. Thank you."

"Enjoy the rest of your weekend."

"Will do. Say hello to Tsuruga-san for me!"

Kyouko waved as they got into the manager's car and drove away. Then she went back inside to help Maria-chan tidy up.

* * *

 _Tamagoyaki = Japanese egg rolls. Even though they're a staple of Japanese cuisine, they can be a bit tricky to make neatly._

* * *

 **Next time: An emergency weekend meeting.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

 **Author's Note:** **  
** _ **Skip Beat!**_ **and its characters belong to the creator Nakamura Yoshiki.** **  
** **  
** _ **Skip Beat!**_ **is serialised in 'Hana to Yume' magazine (Hakusensha) and licensed in English by 'Shojo Beat' (VIZ Media, LLC).**

 **The work below is written in the spirit of fan appreciation.** **  
** **UK English has been used throughout.**

* * *

Ren sat in the president's home office and tried his very best not to let his nerves get to him.

"Don't worry, Ren," said the president. "We'll deal with this." He blew a smoke ring and then stubbed out his cigar.

Ren tried not to inhale the tobacco smoke. His stint as Cain Heel had already made him go back on nicotine patches. He hadn't had a single cigarette since his last day as Cain Heel, but sometimes he _really, really_ wanted one. He knew from experience that he was on the verge of getting addicted again and he didn't want to let that happen.

The president's EA entered the room and bowed. "Toudou-sama is here."

"Thanks," said the president. "Did you make sure that Mogami-kun didn't see him?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good job."

Ren looked at the president in surprise. Kyouko was here? Now?

While Ren was distracted, Toudou-san entered the office and bowed near the door. "Nice to meet you. I'm Toudou."

"Likewise. I'm Takarada Lory, and I believe you already know Tsuruga Ren. Please take a seat."

Toudou-san sat in one of the plush chairs in front of the president's desk. "May I ask you why I have been invited here with such a firmly written letter?"

The president leaned back in his chair. His fingers twitched towards his cigar again, but then he laced them together and leaned his elbows on the armrests. "Let's dispense with the chitchat, shall we? You look like an intelligent man. I'm sure you know exactly why you're here."

Toudou-san pushed his glasses up his nose and glanced at Ren. "Well, considering this young man is here too, then it could be one of two things, really. Which is it?"

"Both," said the president. "But let's get straight to the main point, shall we? You issued a threat to my agency's top star the other day. That's unacceptable."

"Are you aware that there's no such person as 'Tsuruga Ren'? That his whole persona is a lie?"

Ren snorted and crossed his arms, but the president held up a hand to stop him from saying anything.

"Of course I'm aware. I know the business of everyone who works for me. Are _you_ aware that it's perfectly normal for people in the entertainment industry to go by pseudonyms and that it's not anything to be worried about at all?"

"But their real names are usually known to the public, or at least within the industry."

"Not always. I can think of at least a dozen people off the top of my head whose real names still remain shrouded in secrecy even after decades in the limelight. I'll be able to think of many more if you give me a few minutes."

"But those people are usually rock stars, or drag queens."

"Not always. There are many reasons for performers to keep their family names private. I ask that you drop this line of questioning and leave Ren's secrets alone."

Toudou-san frowned at Ren, who smiled in return. He didn't even care that Toudou-san had already demonstrated his awareness that Ren's smiles hid other expressions. The guy was seriously getting on his nerves.

"Are you sure that there's no hidden secret in this young man's past that Kyouko-chan needs to be worried about? Or the public for that matter?"

The president rubbed his moustache. "It speaks well of you that you're worried about Ren's past for Mogami-kun's benefit. But I know the entire story of this guy's past and I hired him to my agency. I'm not worried. No one else needs to be either."

Ren took a steadying breath. First of all, the boss didn't know everything. He didn't know that he had known Kyouko when they were kids. He didn't know that he'd flipped out and threatened her during the Heel sibling act, a mistake he still hadn't paid penance for. But mostly he felt guilty because he didn't believe his boss's words: he thought that people really ought to be worried about him if they knew the whole story. He was getting better; his time in Guam with Kyouko had helped ease his soul immensely, but people still ought to be a little wary of the real him, if only they knew.

He must have shown some of his thoughts on his face because the president held up a hand to him again. "Besides, I think that girl has already seen the worst of Ren and dealt with it admirably. Am I right, Ren?"

Ren nodded reluctantly. "I guess. Yeah, I suppose she did. How do you know that?"

"How do I know anything, Ren?"

Ren let out a frustrated huff. The president was a major pain in the butt at times.

"All I have is your word," said Toudou-san. "I think it's natural that I be concerned. Tsuruga-kun clearly isn't the mild-mannered, always polite guy that he pretends to be."

"So sorry I'm not perfect, but rather just a regular person like everyone else," said Ren.

The president raised an eyebrow at Ren, then rested his head on one fist and gave Toudou-san another long look. "How about we do it this way? You remember how I said earlier that I know the business of all my talents? Well, that goes for Mogami-kun too. I've looked into her past, particularly when I heard about her poor relationship with her mother."

"Pardon me for asking, Takarada-san, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"My employees found a particularly interesting set of medical records. I was most disturbed to learn that Mogami Saena had tried to commit suicide while pregnant."

Ren clutched at the arms of his chair. "What?"

"No need to look so panicked, Ren. Obviously she failed."

"But—"

The president again held up a hand to keep him silent.

"I know about that," said Toudou-san. "I was there. How is it relevant to the current conversation?"

"You've just brought up the salient point yourself. You were there in her life then. Before she left Kyoto in disgrace. You weren't disgraced. Even so, you left the company and moved to Tokyo, taking a several steps back in your career to do so. How important is Mogami Saena to you?"

"Ah, I see." Toudou-san adjusted his glasses again. "You're threatening her to get me to be quiet. But if you're thinking of telling Kyouko-chan about those details, you should know that she's already heard the whole story from Mogami, even that worst point that you mentioned. She's a brave girl. She took it better than most people would have."

Ren remembered the car ride in which Kyouko told him about her mother. There had been something she held back from him, some point that was too difficult to say. It was now clear to him what that had been.

"You misunderstand me, Toudou-san," said the president. "I would never have wanted to tell Mogami-kun of such a matter. Frankly, I'm surprised she already knows. No, I would tell the legal community."

Toudou-san stiffened slightly. His face stayed blank, though. He would be a good poker player.

"How would she be seen within the field if it were known that she had one tried to do such a thing? And intending to take another life with her too? I have the connections to disseminate such information."

Toudou-san exhaled and rested his elbows on his knees.

"Here's the deal: You stop looking into Ren's past, and you don't say anything about your suspicions, and I will keep my knowledge about Mogami Saena to myself as well. If I hear any inkling that you've been stirring suspicion about my star talent, I will have to make my move in response. Understood?"

Toudou-san was silent for a long time. "Understood," he said, finally. "You won't hear Tsuruga-kun's real identity being outed by me."

"Good. If it makes you feel any better, Ren and Mogami-kun have known each other for a year and a half and have spent a lot of time together on various projects. In that time, she hasn't had any reason to stop being friends with him. The girl learned a harsh lesson about trusting people early last year. She's hardly naive enough to trust Ren blindly. If he still has her loyalty, it's because he's earned it."

Ren flushed. He hadn't thought about it that way before. The president caught his eye and gave him a wink.

Toudou-san nodded. "OK. I understand. But if I have any more concerns, I will bother you with them, Takarada-san."

"Oh, I hope you do. I'd like to hear your concerns about this matter before anyone else, and before you inadvertently do damage to things you don't know the full story of."

Toudou-san cleared his throat. 'Do you want to discuss the other matter too?"

"You mean Mogami-kun? I'm not sure there's much to say other than that she is developing well as an actress and I hope that continues. I'm glad to discover that she has another champion willing to fight for her rights, even though he does occasionally jump the gun. She's well supported in LME. She's made fast friends throughout the industry, and more people will fall under her spell as time goes by. She may think she's relatively alone, but there are many people who will jump to protect her whenever she's in trouble, from her peers, to Ren here, to several important directors, to Hollywood actor Kuu Hizuri. She has earned the respect and goodwill of all of those people and more. You don't need to worry about her. She's doing very, very well."

"OK, thank you very much. You've taken a weight off my mind in that regard at least." He stood. "I should go now. I have another appointment after this." He bowed to the president and Ren, who stood and bowed in return.

The president's EA, who Ren was half convinced was psychic, returned to the office and then escorted Toudou-san from the room.

After the door closed, Ren flopped back into his seat. "That could have gone better."

"It could have gone a lot worse, too," said the president.

"I don't like the way he phrased his promise."

"I know what you mean. I think he promised not to tell your story to the media or whatever, but he didn't promise not to chase it up for himself. He's a slippery guy. It almost makes me suspect that he's Mogami-kun's father. She can be slippery like that at times."

"I asked him that myself. He says he isn't."

"I believe it. She doesn't look like him at all, but she doesn't fully look like her mother either. She must get some of her looks from her father. Her eye colour and rounder face, perhaps."

Ren dropped his head against the backrest of the chair. "I can't believe she knows her mother tried to commit suicide while pregnant with her, and she's just going on as normal with that knowledge weighing on her. You shouldn't have said that while I was in the room, Shachou. I don't have a right to know that. She deliberately held it back from me last week."

"But told you the rest?"

"Yeah."

"Sometimes I'm literally stunned at how you two can manage to be so close and yet so far apart. How can you talk to each other about your darkest pains and yet you can't even confess to her that you've got the hots for her? You'd think 'I think you're cute' would be easier to say than 'I'm a broken shell of a man who believes he doesn't deserve to love anyone or be loved'."

Ren sat up straight. "First of all, I don't feel that way anymore. Secondly, I've never told Mogami-san such a thing."

"Oh?" The president reached for his cigar and lighter. "I must be mistaken. Have you told anyone about that pain of yours?"

"No. Wait, yes, but only the chicken guy."

"The chicken guy? Who the hell is the chicken guy?"

"He's a mascot on a show. I accidentally let out a few things, I guess because he was just an anonymous guy in a suit. I didn't recognise his voice, though, so he wasn't anyone I know otherwise."

The president apparently inhaled his cigar smoke wrong and choked on it. He coughed into his hand, hiding the lower half of his face.

"Boss, are you laughing at me? The thought of me chatting with a chicken mascot isn't that funny."

"No, no, I'm not laughing. Well, maybe a little, but not at that. I just had a thought."

Ren frowned. "What?" He usually didn't like the president's thoughts.

"What you said to Toudou-san. 'Sorry for not being perfect'? You need to say something like that to Mogami-kun. She thinks too highly of you for her own good."

"She told me just last night that she doesn't see me as perfect, just very good at my job. It ... eased my mind to hear her say that. It took some of the pressure off, I guess."

"Hm, that's something, at least. Sometimes I feel like that girl is hiding her personal development from me out of spite. She _knows_ I want to see her grow, so she does her best to make sure I can't see it."

"That's because you meddle too much. Let Mogami-san, and the other LoveMe girls, mature at their own pace, boss. They'll thank you for it some day if you do. They're all independent girls who don't want some old man pushing them to do things."

"'Old'? How rude, Ren."

The door clicked open and both men turned to look. Maria-chan poked her head around the door. "Has your meeting finished?" she asked.

"Yes, Maria, come on in," said the president.

"Come on, Onee-san," said Maria-chan. She dragged Kyouko into the office behind her by the sleeve. Kyouko was carrying a plate.

"Ren-sama!" cried Maria-chan. She let go of Kyouko's sleeve and threw herself at him.

Ren instinctively hunched over to protect his more sensitive areas from the incoming Maria-chan missile. The little girl wasn't yet fully aware of where she was putting her knees and elbows, and Ren had no idea of how to discuss with a child where not to squish a man. It was safer to just make sure she didn't have a chance to hurt him, or hide the pain as best he could if she did.

"Good morning, Maria-chan," he said when the little girl had settled onto his lap. "Good morning, Mogami-san," he said to the older girl.

"G-good morning, Tsuruga-san," she said with a bow. The bow was shallower than usual, but that seemed to have more to do with the plate she was holding than the conversation they had the night before. She smiled as she straightened. Ren's heart squeezed. Somehow, knowing the full burden she was bearing as she went about her daily life and kept a smile on her face made him feel even more like he wanted to reach out and touch her, to do his best to make everything OK.

"Have you girls finished filming?" asked the president.

"Yes, we have!" said Maria-chan, "and we did it all by ourselves, along with Momose-san, just like I said we would."

"Good, good."

"Filming what?" asked Ren. "And Momose-san is here too?"

"I'm sorry, Tsuruga-san," said Kyouko. "She's left already. If I had known you were here I would have made sure you and Momose-san had a chance to catch up."

"Ah, that's OK, Mogami-san. We have a joint interview next week about the DVD release. I'll catch up with her then. What were you filming?"

"We're making a YouTube series!" said Maria-chan. "It's a cooking show and Onee-san is the host. Do you want to see some of the footage? We're about to choose the best takes before Onee-san leaves."

"I might have a few minutes. How come I haven't heard of this before?"

"Ah, we only just filmed the first episode," said Kyouko. "It's my new LoveMe job and Maria-chan's homework all in one."

Ren looked at the president. He was making them make a YouTube show? What was he up to?

The president was eyeing the plate in Kyouko's hands. "Is that the fruit of your labour?" He asked.

"Oh! Yes. These are the mistake tamagoyaki that we put aside. They should still taste fine, though. I thought you and Maria-chan would like to have a snack. And Tsuruga-san too?"

"How thoughtful, Mogami-kun. Go ahead, Ren. Have some of Mogami-kun's cooking."

"May I?" he asked.

Kyouko held the plate out to him and he took a slice of the tamagoyaki. "Mmm," he said around the mouthful. "Delicious."

Maria-chan also took a piece. "Yay! I get to try Onee-san's cooking!"

Kyouko then put the plate on the desk in front of the president who also dove right in.

"Come on, Ren-sama," said Maria-chan as she hopped down off his lap and then began tugging at his sleeve. "Come see what we did."

"OK." He allowed himself to be dragged by the small child. That was the theme of his week, he supposed. "I'm coming, I'm coming." He smiled at Kyouko as he passed. "Maybe you could tell me the story from the beginning?"

She smiled and nodded to him, then turned and bowed to the president. "Please excuse me," she said, then followed Ren and Maria-chan out of the office.

Kyouko paused as they crossed the second floor balcony that looked down on the atrium. Ren dug his heels in and looked back at her. "Is everything OK, Mogami-san?"

"Huh? Oh, yes, Tsuruga-san. I just thought I saw someone I know leaving the mansion, but I only saw him from behind and I can't think why that person would be here, so I'm sure I just made a mistake." She caught up to them. "Let's go. I'm sure you have many things to do today, so I don't want to keep you too long."

"It's fine, really. Don't worry, Mogami-san." He followed the two girls, eager to see the footage of their new project, and also eager to distract Kyouko from thinking about the person she had seen, who had no doubt been Toudou-san. How would he explain it if she found out that Toudou-san had been here for a meeting with him and the president?

* * *

 **Next time: Kyouko has a Sunday brunch with some colleagues. All is going well, until ...?**


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

 **Author's Note:** **  
** _ **Skip Beat!**_ **and its characters belong to the creator Nakamura Yoshiki.** **  
** **  
** _ **Skip Beat!**_ **is serialised in 'Hana to Yume' magazine (Hakusensha) and licensed in English by 'Shojo Beat' (VIZ Media, LLC).**

 **The work below is written in the spirit of fan appreciation.** **  
** **UK English has been used throughout.**

* * *

Kyouko briefly checked her reflection in the restaurant window. She smoothed her flyaway hair, adjusted the line of her blazer, and then stepped into the restaurant.

The maître d' gave a crisp bow. " _Irasshaimase_!"

"Booking for three? Under the name Watanabe?"

"Ah, yes. Welcome." The maître d' pointed out a booking to a waiter who stood nearby and said, "Table 7, please."

The waiter bowed to Kyouko. "This way, ma'am."

Kyouko blushed as she followed the waiter. She felt out of place in such a fancy establishment. Even the waiter was wearing a suit with tails.

Watanabe-san, the actress playing her mother in the new drama, already sat at the table. "Kyouko-san! Thank you for coming."

Kyouko bowed. "Thank you for inviting me." She took a seat.

They discussed the weather for a few minutes until Naomi-san entered the restaurant and was escorted to their table. She looked so effortlessly fashionable that Kyouko froze for a moment, just admiring the older actress and wondering if she could ever be that cool. Then she sprung to her feet and bowed. "Naomi-san, good morning!"

"Yo," said Naomi-san with a wave. She smiled at both of them then took the third seat at the table. "Thank you for inviting me, Watanabe-san," she said. "It's a nice morning for a fancy Sunday brunch."

"Thank you for coming. I'm looking forward to getting to know both of you. Shall we look at the menu?"

Kyouko opened her menu and nearly gasped in shock. Each of the dishes cost nearly as much as her weekly rent!

She must have been pulling a weird face because Watanabe-san leaned around the circular table towards her and said, "Have anything you like, Kyouko-san. Today's meal is my treat."

Kyouko thanked her and smiled, but still felt awful. She didn't want someone she had only recently met to spend that much money on her. When the waiter returned she ordered the soup of the day, one of the cheapest items on the menu.

She fell silent after their orders had been taken. She didn't know what to say to the other two women. Watanabe-san looked between her and Naomi-san with a polite smile on her face. When Kyouko looked at Naomi-san, she was surprised to find the famous actress staring at her in a measuring way. That day she was wearing vivid purple contacts, which made her stare rather disconcerting.

Kyouko smiled at the other actress, trying to hide her nervousness.

"Well, ladies," said Watanabe-san, "what do you think of the scripts we've seen so far, and where do you think the story's going?"

It was the perfect icebreaker. They began discussing their characters and the story, hesitantly at first then with more excitement. Kyouko kept reminding herself throughout that she was privy to secrets she had to keep regarding one outcome of the story. She had to bite the inside of her cheek when Watanabe-san and Naomi-san discussed their theory that Naomi-san's character Rina would regain her confidence through building a relationship with Tsuruga-san's character Kazufumi. She couldn't let on that she knew there would be no such relationship.

"Where do you think your character is going, Kyouko-san?" asked Watanabe-san shortly after their meals were served.

"Um, well, Tomoe-san has been set up as a social outcast. She seems like someone who doesn't quite fit in and who hasn't yet found her true peer group. Because she is also studying for a year until she can try again to get into her preferred uni, I think that eventually she will go to Tokyo to study and she will find her peer group. But, um, because she seems very frozen and unsure, I think she will learn to unfreeze her life and find worth in herself even before she leaves for Tokyo. I don't have a guess yet about how that would happen." Only the very last part was a lie to preserve the secret.

"You have a good grasp on your character, Kyouko-san. That's very impressive for someone so young and new to the business."

Kyouko bowed in her chair. "Thank you very much, Watanabe-san."

"That's quite all right. Would you young ladies excuse me for a few minutes?" Watanabe-san then stood and walked towards the ladies' restroom.

Kyouko smiled awkwardly at Naomi-san who was staring at her again, then took another spoonful of her chicken soup.

"May I ask you something, Kyouko-san?" asked Naomi-san.

"Sure."

"How well do you know Tsuruga-san?"

Kyouko felt her stomach drop. Naomi-san must like Tsuruga-san. She had a premonition that Naomi-san would misunderstand her relationship with Tsuruga-san and end up hating her just like all the girls at Jr High had hated her for living with Shoutarou.

"Um, well, he's my sempai at LME. I see him there sometimes. And I've worked with him on one other drama before, and behind the scenes in several other projects. So I suppose I know him as well as anyone would who has worked with him that much."

'Hm, and that other girl? The one playing his sister? You seem to know her well, too."

"Ah, Kanae-san is my best friend at LME." Kyouko was proud of herself for remembering to call her best friend by her real name, not the nickname she usually used.

"Does everyone at LME get on really well?" Naomi-san sounded vaguely wistful.

Kyouko thought of Matsunai Ruriko, the singer and aspiring actress who had caused her so much trouble shortly after she had joined LME. "No, not everyone. I think that would be impossible with all the strong personalities."

Naomi-san gave her a lop-sided grin. "Akatoki is a bit like that, too. I had a run-in with a real jackass last week in the hallway. Ugh!" She shuddered and then took another bite of her Caesar salad.

Kyouko bit her lip. She had immediately thought of Shoutarou when she heard Naomi-san mention a jackass at Akatoki, but how likely was it that she was talking about the same jackass?

Watanabe-san returned to the table and they continued eating their brunches and talking about the drama. When they finished their meal, Watanabe-san paid for all of them as promised. "Thank you so much for keeping me company," she said as they all stood outside the restaurant preparing to leave.

"No problem," said Naomi-san. "Thank you for the meal."

"Yes, thank you very much," said Kyouko.

"Don't worry about it. I look forward to seeing you both tomorrow at the cast announcement event. Do either of you need a ride home?"

"My manager is waiting for me," said Naomi-san.

"Kyouko-san?"

"Oh, no, that's all right." She was fine taking the subway back to the Darumaya.

They all bowed to one another and said farewell. Watanabe-san turned right, and Kyouko turned left. Naomi-san also turned left.

"Looks like we're going the same way for a moment," said Kyouko.

Naomi-san looked like she was about to say something, but then she frowned as she looked along the street. Kyouko looked in the same direction. _Oh no, not now!_ Shoutarou walked towards them along the pavement, trailed by his driver. _Can I escape before he sees me?_ But it was too late.

He stopped five metres or so in front of them and scowled. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"I'm allowed to be here," said Kyouko. "What are _you_ doing here?"

At the same time, Naomi-san said, "Not you, again." Then she looked at Kyouko and said, "Huh?"

Shoutarou snorted and shook his head at Naomi-san. "You really thought I was talking to _you_? You already made it clear you're not interested. You missed your chance."

Naomi-san flushed, but from the curl of her lip Kyouko thought the flush had more to do with anger than embarrassment. _Wow, Naomi-san! You've seen through him! You fabulous woman!_

"I've made it clear I don't want anything to do with you, either," said Kyouko to Shoutarou. "Would you please also decide that you have no interest in speaking to me anymore?"

Shoutarou stalked towards her, but she refused to back up. "Whatever," he said. "I was on my way to lunch. I didn't _mean_ to run in to a boring nobody like you. Anyway, you'd miss me if you didn't have these chances to run in to me. After all, your life revolves around me."

"It does not, you idiot! You seriously think that I even remember you all that often anymore? I'm too busy working and spending time with my _new_ friends!"

"Like this one here?" He jerked his head towards Naomi-san. "An Akatoki employee who has a history of being rude to me? How does you hanging out with such a person have nothing to do with me, huh?"

Kyouko put her hands on her hips. People on the street gave her frightened looks but she paid them no mind. "Naomi-san and I are in a new drama together. Our knowing one another has absolutely nothing to do with you, you egotistical jerk. Seriously, how did you even make such a ridiculous mental leap?"

Shoutarou stepped even closer. "The entire reason you're in show business is because of me." His voice was getting quieter and colder.

"It is not!" she cried. "I may have ended up in Tokyo because of you, I may even have approached LME because of you. But I'm pursuing acting for my own reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with you!"

"Don't lie!" He reached out, and Kyouko was sure he would grab her by the neck; his hand approached her seemingly in slow motion. Over Shoutarou's shoulder she saw his driver frantically waving his hands in the air. He'd been similarly useless when Shoutarou had accosted her in TBM's parking lot.

Suddenly she was wrenched to the side. Naomi-san had a strong grip on her wrist and she was running, pulling Kyouko along behind her.

"Let's get out of here!" she called over her shoulder.

Kyouko didn't look back to see if Shoutarou was pursuing her. She followed the older actress along the footpath and around the corner. Naomi-san ran to a bottle green Toyota, flung open the back door, pushed Kyouko inside, and dove into the car behind her.

"Drive!" she called as soon as the door was closed.

The man in the driver's seat didn't ask for clarification. The car roared to life. He checked over his shoulder to make sure there was no traffic in the lane. Then he pulled out into the road with a screeching tyre sound Kyouko had only ever heard in movies. She was still lying prone on the back seat with Naomi-san half on top of her. The acceleration threw her against the back of the seat. Over the car's sounds, Kyouko thought she could hear Shoutarou's voice raised in a shout, but she couldn't make out any words.

When the acceleration eased, both young women sat up and fastened their seatbelts. Kyouko's heart thudded in her chest and she was breathing heavily from the surprise dash.

"That was Fuwa Shou, right?" said the man driving the car. "Was he bothering you again? Do I need to take this to the higher-ups?"

"He wasn't bothering me this time, he was bothering this girl. Oh, Kyouko-san, this is my manager Endou. Endou-san, this is Kyouko from LME. She's also going to be in the new drama."

Kyouko and Endou-san exchanged greetings.

"Where do you live, Kyouko-san?"

She told him the Darumaya's address.

"We have plenty of time to drop you home," said Endou-san. "Please sit back and relax."

Kyouko exhaled a breath she felt like she had been holding for far too long. She felt Naomi-san's gaze on her.

"Thank you so much for saving me, Naomi-san," she said. "That guy, well ..."

"I know that guy's a jerk, Kyouko-san, but What. The. Hell. Was. That?"

Kyouko bit her lip. She didn't want to tell someone she barely knew. But Naomi-san crossed her arms and stared at her, waiting for an explanation.

"Come on, Kyouko-san. I need to know. You're a part of the _Aozora no Yume_ family. You know that guy is doing the drama's theme song, right? He'll probably be at the event tomorrow. I need to know to help defuse any problems that arise. We don't want something like _that_ happening again, especially not at a press conference or interview. It would be a disaster!"

Kyouko rested her head in her hands. Shoutarou was involved with the drama? Since when? And why did she have such awful luck? But if that was the case, then Naomi-san was right. She had a right to know.

"Well, you see, my mother was busy when I was little so I was raised in the Fuwa household ..."

* * *

"... These days I barely even remember him anymore. But every now and then he pops up again to make my life living hell, just because he can."

Naomi sat in silence for a long moment after the girl finished her story. She met Endou-san's eyes in the rear-view mirror. He too was surprised and full of sympathy for the girl.

"What a colossal jerk!" she said eventually. "I can't believe it! I knew he was bad, but that's essentially abuse, Kyouko-san. I think you're lucky you got out when you did."

"If only he was out of my life for good. He knows where I live now. Sometimes he turns up, and I have to tell him to go away. It's such a pain!"

Naomi shivered. How could this girl say such a thing so casually? "Move house. Now. You're not safe there!"

"But the Taishou and the Okami! They take such good care of me, and I help out in the restaurant when I have time. I don't want to leave."

"Seriously, it's not safe! You need to live somewhere he doesn't know about. Or at least somewhere with building security, like key cards and CCTV cameras. Do you at least have somewhere you can go on nights when you don't feel safe?"

The girl nodded and blushed. "Yes, I have somewhere I can go, someone I can call." She blinked and frowned as if she was surprised at her own words. Then she laughed. "And anyway, the Taishou is a sushi chef with a vast collection of sharp knives. He has a habit of sharpening them while looking threateningly at people. He's better than any security guard."

Naomi froze. What kind of life did this girl lead? This Taisho she was talking about, she made him sound like a Yakuza member! Did she live in a Yakuza-affiliated restaurant? Is that why she didn't use her family name?

No matter what support she had, she was clearly at risk when she wasn't with those people. She didn't seem to have a manager who looked after her. She was so vulnerable!

Naomi had started the day feeling sure she would hate this girl. She'd seen her as nothing more than an eyelid-fluttering ingénue who had captured the attention of Japan's most eligible bachelor and who had got roles in the industry she didn't deserve because of it. But now she felt a strong desire to go all mama-bear and protect her from that rampaging douche-nozzle. She wouldn't allow any young actresses to be harassed by jerks like him under her watch! It wasn't acceptable, even if the girl in question was someone she wasn't yet sure if she even liked. No girls or women deserved to be targeted like that.

"Tomorrow, if he's there, I will do my best to make sure he won't get anywhere near you. Endou-san will help too, right?"

"Yes," said Endou-san.

Kyouko-san perked up from the pit of despair she was apparently wallowing in. "Oh! You don't have to do that. I don't want other people involved. He's already caused trouble for others because of me."

"We _do_ have to do that, and we will. You don't have to face that shitstain alone."

Kyouko-san's eyes went watery. "Thank you so much!" Although she was on the verge, she kept herself from fully crying. "Oh!" she then said. "Would you be able to do me one small favour, please?"

"What is it?"

She clapped her hands together and bowed in her seat. "Please, please, _please_ , don't tell Tsuruga-san that we had a run-in with Shoutarou!"

Naomi frowned. "Why not?"

"Because mentioning that guy's name to Tsuruga-san only ever leads to badness. He gets angry about it. I don't know why. I think he has his own troubles with that guy. I don't know exactly what their disagreement is, though."

Naomi tried really, really hard not to laugh in the girl's face. Did she have no _clue_? Did she really not know that she was the object of Tsuruga-san's affections? Because the obvious conclusion for why Tsuruga-san would get angry when hearing Fuwa's name was a combination of jealousy and fear for Kyouko-san's safety, if her story was anything to go by. _Ugh! This girl is really pissing me off! What a waste of a perfectly good man's affections!_

"Does Tsuruga-san know the whole story that you told me?"

She nodded. "Yeah. He knows."

"Then I'd say he's angry out of concern for you."

Kyouko-san smiled. "Maybe, I guess. He's such a good sempai!"

Ugh! Well, she'd done as much to help the girl in that department as she was willing to. It really wasn't her business.

"Is this the place?" asked Endou-san.

"Oh! Yes! Thank you very much, Endou-san. If you would park over there, it's just a short walk to the door."

Kyouko-san gave them a crisp, old-fashioned bow from the footpath after she got out of the car.

"See you tomorrow!" called Naomi out the car window. "And take care of yourself."

Naomi chewed her lip as Endou-san drove them back to Akatoki. That girl! So old-fashioned; so clueless. And yet ...

"She seemed rather naïve," said Endou-san, echoing her thoughts. "I hope she gets a manager soon to look after her."

"Yeah, that would be best," said Naomi. "But ..."

"Oh?"

"How would you have expected a girl like that to react to a guy like Fuwa threatening her on the street?"

"I don't know. Shrinking away, maybe? Getting teary and looking afraid?"

"I sort of forgot about it until now because of all the rushing to escape and then listening to her story. But she stood her ground and shouted back at him with a look on her face like a vengeful demon. She looked him right in the eye even when he was reaching for her throat."

Endou-san was quiet for a moment. "Wow."

"I know, right? Where did that come from?"

"She did play Hongo Mio in _Dark Moon_. That must have come from somewhere."

"Yeah. It must have ..." Naomi grinned. She was starting to get interested in seeing what that girl would do with her new character.

* * *

 **Next time: Kyouko makes a few new discoveries at LME.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

 **Author's Note:** **  
** _ **Skip Beat!**_ **and its characters belong to the creator Nakamura Yoshiki.** **  
** **  
** _ **Skip Beat!**_ **is serialised in 'Hana to Yume' magazine (Hakusensha) and licensed in English by 'Shojo Beat' (VIZ Media, LLC).**

 **The work below is written in the spirit of fan appreciation.** **  
** **UK English has been used throughout.**

* * *

When Kyouko had first spotted her best friend in the hallway at LME, she had wanted to throw herself at her like she usually did. But the tall girl's behaviour had been so strange that instead Kyouko had watched her from around a corner, trying to figure out what was going on.

Kanae-san was talking to one of the young women from the singing section, and bizarrely there was a pleasant smile on her face as she talked.

 _I want her to talk to me like that_ , thought Kyouko.

The singer nodded at Kanae-san then stepped back and struck a pose. Kanae-san held up her iPhone and apparently took several photos of the other woman. Then they bowed to one another and exchanged business cards before the singer went on her way.

Kyouko crept up behind her best friend, who stood in the middle of the hallway absorbed in her phone. "What are you doing, Mouko-san?"

"Aaah!" Kanae-san spun around and clutched at her chest. "Kyouko, you baka! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Ehehe, sorry, Mouko-san."

"So you should be!" Kanae-san looked Kyouko up and down. "I see you took my advice."

"Of course I did! You send me so few texts that when you do I can't help but think it's really important."

The night before, Kanae-san had sent Kyouko a text that read:  
 _-Wear the dress tomorrow or else.-_

Kyouko had been a little embarrassed wearing such a fancy dress for just a cast announcement and, even worse, a trip to the office, but if her best friend wanted her to wear it, she would. She had paired it with her black heels and a black blazer to make it a bit more work-appropriate. She'd also tried out a few of Muse-sama's makeup tips.

"Maybe I should take a photo of you too. That's quite a good ensemble."

"Oh, oh! Are you taking pictures for your Tumblr blog?"

"Yep." Kanae-san started walking to the LoveMe section, and Kyouko followed.

"Have you put any online yet? Can I see?"

"I haven't yet. I'm going to start this evening."

"Yay! Text me the link, OK? I want to see."

"Stop!" said Kanae-san.

Kyouko froze. "What?"

"Strike a pose."

Kyouko blinked, then did as she was told.

"Not so stiff! You did it better at Venus Fort."

Kyouko breathed out and channelled a bit of Natsu.

"That's it." Kanae-san then took a picture. "Try another pose now."

After several photos, and without saying another word, she started walking again. Kyouko hurried to catch up.

"Do you need me to tell you where my clothes came from?"

"I already know where your dress came from. As for your jacket and shoes, it's probably best not to let people know. You're an actress after all. You're not supposed to wear bargain basement clothes."

"How rude. First of all, these are high street shoes. They were a present from the Okami and the Taisho. Also, I don't have enough money for anything but the bargain basement."

Kanae-san sighed. "I'm not judging you for wearing cheap clothes. I do, too. It's just best for your image if you don't let your fans know about it."

Kyouko pouted. "You'd think it would make us more relatable. 'Look at us! We're normal girls. If we can do this, you can too!'"

"That's not how it works."

Kyouko sighed and followed her friend.

"Are you ready for the cast announcement?" asked Kanae-san.

Kyouko's face fell. She'd been trying not to think about that.

"What's wrong?"

"I'll tell you when we get to the LoveMe room."

When they reached the room, Kyouko dropped into a chair by the table and wilted. Kanae-san loomed over her and crossed her arms.

"OK, spill."

"Naomi-san said that Shoutarou has been asked to do the theme song for the drama and that he'll probably be at the cast announcement event today."

Kanae-san rubbed her temples. "Just what we need! You, and Tsuruga-san, and that guy, all in one place where there will also be reporters and cameras!"

"I know, right? It's a recipe for disaster. Can I go home? Can I just tell them I'm sick and make my apologies?"

Kanae-san sat at the table. "No. You have to go."

"You're right. What would my new cast mates think of me if I behaved so unprofessionally from the very beginning? I'd never gain their respect."

"Well, there's that. But also, you can't let that guy rule your life. He has to become a non-factor so that you can move on. I think you're nearly there, Kyouko. You just need to learn how to not react to him when you see him, and then you'll be all set."

Kyouko laid her head on the table. "Easier said than done. He knows exactly how to push my buttons."

"Mou, Kyouko. Use acting if you have to. Act like he isn't someone who affects you until it becomes the truth."

Kyouko lifted her head from the table. "I can do it like that? In my real life I mean, not just for a character?"

"Of course! Don't you do it all the time anyway in other matters? You can apply the same principle to Fuwa as well."

Kyouko didn't know what Kanae-san meant by 'other matters,' but she was too occupied by thinking about how she'd act unfazed by Shoutarou to wonder about it. She sat there pondering and muttering for a while. She barely noticed that Chiori-san arrived. The other two LoveMe girls moved to the other side of the room and left Kyouko to her musings.

Just as Kyouko started to convince herself that it might just be possible that she could deal with Shoutarou's presence that day, the door to the LoveMe section flew open and the president strode in. He was wearing a white sequined Elvis costume. "Good morning, ladies!" he said.

Kyouko jumped nearly a foot into the air.

Kanae-san sighed as she stood up from the sofa she had been sitting on. "It's a good thing none of us were in the middle of getting changed."

The president froze. "My apologies, Kotonami-kun. You are indeed correct in that I should have knocked. Anyway! I have an announcement for you today!"

"We figured as much, sir," said Chiori-san, who was also on her feet. "Kanae-san and Kyouko-san have an event today, but I don't, yet I still had to come in."

The president tuned around and gestured to someone outside the door. "I have someone to introduce to you. Well, to two of you, perhaps. Aki-kun, these are the LoveMe girls. Girls, this is Aki Shouko, your new manager."

Shouko-san stepped into the LoveMe room. She had her hands folded politely and a faintly embarrassed look on her face. The outfit she was wearing, a fitted blouse, pencil skirt and heels, showed off her curvaceous figure. Unfortunately, the blouse and the heels were both LoveMe pink.

"Nice to meet you," said Shouko-san with a bow.

The LoveMe girls bowed in return. "Nice to meet you," said both Chiori-san and Kanae-san.

"Good morning, Shouko-san!" said Kyouko.

"Aki-kun has been hired to help out with the whole LoveMe section, so she will not be a dedicated manager for any one of you girls, but rather she will help any of you who need assistance. Amamiya-kun," the president indicated the diminutive girl, "is affiliated with SoftHat and has her own manager Yoshimoto-san who is recovering from a serious accident. She may need help from you over the next few weeks, then after that her own manager will be available again."

"Please take care of me," said Chiori-san with a bow.

"I look forward to working with you, Amamiya-san."

"Fortuitously," continued the president, "Kotonami-kun and Mogami-kun will shortly be working on the same drama together, so you will often be able to look after both of them at the same time."

Kanae-san also bowed to Shouko-san, and the two women greeted one another.

"I'll leave you ladies to get acquainted with one another. Oh, and Aki-kun, would you please escort Kotonami-kun and Mogami-kun to the cast announcement for their new drama today? They'll be able to tell you the details."

Shouko-san bowed to the president. "Please leave it to me."

The president swooshed his sequined cloak, struck a pose, and then left the room. "Elvis has left the building!" he said in English as he went. Kyouko was the only one who understood the joke. The others looked at her oddly when she snorted with laughter, but she didn't want to explain why she knew old American rock 'n' roll references: of course she had been exposed to that sort of thing via Shoutarou while he had been doing his rock 'n' roll research in Jr High.

Kanae-san frowned. "Excuse me, Aki-san, but I'm sure I know your name from somewhere. And you seem to know Kyouko too."

"Oh, my last job was with Akatoki. I managed the singer Fuwa Shou. I left because of, ah, creative differences. I'm looking forward to working with you. Please, rest assured: I have many contacts in the acting world as well as the music world. I'll do my best to support your careers."

Kanae-san gave Kyouko a horrified look. "You, and him, and Tsuruga-san, _and_ a manager who just left him?"

Kyouko covered her eyes. "Are you _sure_ I can't call in sick?"

"What's this? What's going on?"

"Um, Shouko-san, did the president say which drama we've been cast in?" said Kyouko.

"No, he didn't."

"We're in _Aozora no Yume_. I heard Shoutarou has been asked to do the theme song and he might be there today."

Shouko-san closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Yes, that's right. I got him that job. I'm sorry, Kyouko-chan. I didn't know you had been cast in it."

"I probably hadn't been cast in it yet when you got him the job. But if we see him there, he could blow up at both of us. It might escalate."

"Yeah." Shouko-san bit her lip.

"What happened between you two?" asked Kanae-san. "Why did you leave Akatoki and come to LME?"

"I'd rather not say." Shouko-san looked away.

"I don't have any jobs today," said Chiori-san. "Say the word and I'll come with you, decked out in my full LoveMe glory. I won't be busy, so I'll be able to dedicate myself to chasing off Fuwa if need be."

Kyouko looked at Chiori-san in surprise. She didn't remember explaining the full story of her and Shoutarou to Chiori-san. But Chiori-san had stayed over at the Kotonami household the previous Friday. Perhaps Kanae-san had told her.

Kyouko stood in front of Chiori-san and bowed. "I submit a request to the LoveMe section. Amamiya Chiori, would you accompany me today and help keep Fuwa Shou away from both me and Aki Shouko? Oh, and away from Tsuruga-san too."

"Him too?"

Kyouko nodded. "Yes, definitely him. It'll get really messy otherwise."

Chiori-san saluted. "Understood. I accept this LoveMe task." She walked to her locker and pulled out her LoveMe coveralls.

Shouko-san beckoned Kyouko over to a corner of the room. "Thank you so much, Kyouko-chan," she said. She bowed. "I don't know what you had to do to convince the president to see me and hire me to work at LME. How can I repay your kindness?"

Kyouko waved her hands in front of her. "It was no problem, really. He likes meddling. It's what he does best. That and grab attention, of course."

"Even so, thank you. I thought no one would ever give me another chance. You have my most sincere gratitude."

Kyouko smiled. "You should save your thanks until later. After all, I may be nothing but trouble for you, continually pulling you back into Shoutarou's orbit. I want us both to escape from him for good, but I'm not fully in control of that yet."

"I hope we can help each other. Oh, by the way, you mentioned Tsuruga Ren before."

"Yes, that's right. Because he and Shoutarou don't like each other. I think it would be safer to keep them apart too."

"Do you mind if I ask about the nature of your relationship with Tsuruga-san?"

Kyouko blushed. "Th-the nature? He's my sempai, just my sempai."

"Huh. Because the president said a few things."

Kyouko's stomach sunk to somewhere in the vicinity of her knees. "What did he say?"

"Well, he was explaining the reason for the LoveMe section. I'd got it totally around the wrong way. I thought it was designed to protect you girls from getting hurt by love again and that you were supposed to refrain from falling in love. But the president said that you three girls are in this section to regain love."

Kyouko's shoulders hunched. "That's the idea, at least."

"So the president said that if I ever saw you making advances towards Tsuruga-san, I'm supposed to back off and let you do so, even though under normal circumstances a manager would step in to stop a young actress from doing something like that."

"Oh, did he?" said Kyouko.

Shouko-san shivered and continued. "He told me not to set anything up or encourage you either, so don't worry, I won't meddle like you say he does. Oh, and he also told me not to tell Tsuruga-san about this, so rest assured I won't meddle in that way, either."

Kyouko breathed a sigh of relief. She had been afraid for a moment that she would have another person pushing her to make a huge mistake by expressing her feelings to Tsuruga-san. "Don't worry, Shouko-san, I have no intention of doing anything like that, so you won't be faced with such an ethical dilemma. I just want to focus on my acting and build the foundations of my career."

Shouko-san smiled. "OK, understood. Now, when and where is this event, and do we have time to come up with a plan of attack before we leave?"

* * *

 **Next time: The drama cast announcement event.**

* * *

 **Just a short chapter this time, sorry. Also, my apologies, but I think the next chapter will be late. I'm having a busy week, and I'm going to be busy until the end of Sunday. I intend to do a fair bit of writing over Easter, though, so I hope I will be able to make up for it then.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

 **Author's Note:**  
 _ **Skip Beat!**_ **and its characters belong to the creator Nakamura Yoshiki.**

 _ **Skip Beat!**_ **is serialised in 'Hana to Yume' magazine (Hakusensha) and licensed in English by 'Shojo Beat' (VIZ Media, LLC).**

 **The work below is written in the spirit of fan appreciation.**  
 **UK English has been used throughout.**

* * *

Few people were in the meeting room when Ren arrived. He checked the time on his cellphone: he and Yashiro-san were a quarter of an hour early. He greeted the producer Kobayashi-san and the few actors who had arrived before him then stood against the back wall where he wouldn't be accused of looming over people.

He hoped he would have a chance to talk to Kyouko. He had said some things to her on Friday that could potentially throw her off balance, things he was surprised he had actually found the guts to say. Sure, he hadn't confessed the full depth of his feelings, but he had dropped some big hints. Even though she had seemed fine with him on Saturday, it was no assurance that she actually was. She was more than capable of hiding any discomfort with him for the sake of Maria-chan and the president.

"Why so pensive, Ren?" asked Yashiro-san.

"Hm? Nothing."

"So you're not thinking about how lucky you are that you'll get to see Kyouko-chan today?"

Ren gave his manager a silencing look then glanced at the other occupants of the room. He wasn't embarrassed by his feelings for Kyouko, but he was aware of how much his regard could hurt her reputation at this delicate stage of her career. He would prefer to avoid rumours if possible. He sighed, remembering the various times she'd been over to his place, or he'd dropped her off at home, and all the times they'd eaten lunch together while working on _Dark Moon_. Perhaps he should have considered that sort of thing much earlier, but he'd already forged a habit of spending time with her when possible long before he'd figured out that his manager was right and he did actually have a crush on her.

Murasame entered the waiting room and greeted everyone before taking a seat and drinking from a bottle of Coke he had brought with him. Ren sensed rather than saw Yashiro-san give him a wary look, so he turned and gave his manager a reassuring smile. Yes, he'd had trouble with Murasame on set, but that was as Cain Heel. He wasn't about to let on that he had any history at all with Murasame, particularly not bad history. It wasn't time to let Cain Heel's identity be known.

While he pondered how well he thought that reveal might go, something in shocking pink caught his attention in his peripheral vision. He looked up, thinking, _Is she intending to wear that?_ But it was Amamiya-san, not Kyouko, who wore the LoveMe coveralls.

Amamiya-san walked straight through the room to him, ignoring the stares of Ren's cast mates. She gave a shallow bow. "Good morning, Tsuruga-san. I have a message for you. Do you have a moment?"

"Of course." He followed the girl over to a corner away from everyone. Yashiro-san followed.

"Is Mogami-san OK?" Ren asked as soon as they were reasonably out of earshot of the few other people in the room.

Amamiya-san nodded. "Yes, so far. The thing is, Kyouko-san heard from another cast member that Fuwa Shou was contracted to do the theme song for this drama and he might be here today. The LoveMe section is on the case; we won't let him bother her. But Kyouko-san wanted me to warn you about what's up."

Ren closed his eyes and exhaled a long breath through his nose. Why was that guy always around? Why did he keep coming back into her life one way or another? She deserved to have the chance to move on properly. "I take it she wanted to warn me so that I wouldn't make a scene?"

Amamiya-san pursed her lips. "She didn't say that specifically, just that it would be bad if you two interacted."

Ren crossed his arms and frowned. "I'm not that unreasonable, am I?" He looked at Yashiro-san, who held up his hands and warded off his words. A faint grin lurked around his manager's face. Ren sighed. It seemed his manager thought he was unreasonable.

"Please tell her I will be on my best behaviour. But please look out for her, Amamiya-san. If he attacks her like he's done in the past, all bets are off. I don't want to stand around and watch him be violent towards her." He looked around the room, but still couldn't see her. "Where is she, by the way?"

"Waiting outside with Kanae-san. They're going to come in as late as they can to minimise potential contact."

"Good idea."

Amamiya-san gave him another short bow and took her leave.

"Are you going to step in to protect her if he turns up?" asked Yashiro-san.

"Only if he physically attacks her, or if she gives me a look requesting my help. The other two LoveMe girls may act prickly, but I really think they care about Mogami-san. They'll look out for her. You should have come to dinner on Friday; you would have learned that and a few other things."

Yashiro-san shook his head. "You may be just young enough to get away with socialising with 17- and 18-year-old girls, but if I did it I would look like a creep."

"You talk to Mogami-san all the time."

"That's different. That's always work-related, and on your behalf besides."

"Good morning," said someone from Ren's side. He turned to find Naomi-san, the lead actress, standing nearby with a welcoming smile on her face. She must have arrived while he was distracted talking to Amamiya-san.

"Good morning, Naomi-san."

"Who was the girl in pink?" she asked.

"An employee of LME delivering a message."

"Isn't that what cellphones are for these days?" asked Naomi-san.

 _Damn_. He gave a small laugh trying to look as carefree as possible. He didn't want to have to explain the LoveMe section. He still thought the existence of the section was poor taste on the president's behalf, even if it had allowed Kyouko to join LME and him to get to know her.

Naomi-san opened her mouth as if to speak, seemed to reconsider, and then gave him a small bow. "Please take care of me today. I believe the two of us will be fielding the most questions from the press of all the actors. Let's do our best."

"Yes, let's." He bowed to her in return.

Naomi-san walked over to stand near an older man in a suit with glasses and a silver forelock, presumably her manager.

Ren started to turn back to Yashiro-san, but he felt an itching like someone was staring at him. He looked back towards Naomi-san and caught her manager frowning at him. He gave the man one of his most polite smiles and then inclined his head to him. The man blinked, then turned to talk to his charge.

Ren pulled out his phone and checked the time. The official meeting time for the cast was still five minutes away. His foot wanted to tap on the ground with impatience, but he forced it to stay still. He couldn't help the tension radiating through his shoulders, though.

"Are you all right, Ren?" asked Yashiro-san.

"I have an impending sense of doom."

"Don't worry. What could Fuwa-kun do to her in a crowd of actors like this?"

Ren sighed and leaned his head against the wall behind him. "Even letting people know that there's history between them would be a bad outcome for her. She wants to keep all of that on the quiet. She doesn't want to become notorious on his account."

"You know, Ren, sometimes I wonder when you get to know Kyouko-chan so well. Just how much time do the two of you spend together outside work, and what do you talk about when you do? She's so good at holding back details, yet you always seem to know."

"Don't worry, Yashiro-san. Other than work-assigned tasks, I don't spend an unseemly amount of time with her, so you needn't be concerned about scandals."

"So long as a certain job remains secret for a while, right?"

"Mm-hm." It seemed Yashiro-san had picked up on his oblique reference to the Heel sibling act.

Quite a few people entered in the room in short order. Ren nodded in greeting to each of them. Each time, one half of him was disappointed the arriving person wasn't Kyouko, and the other half was relieved it wasn't Fuwa either. Then a group of four people entered the room. He only had eyes for Kyouko. She looked stunning. Not that she wasn't usually; she even managed to look cute in the pink coveralls. But the blue dress paired with a black jacket and heels suited her well. She managed to look fashion forward, professional, and serious all at once, which was just perfect for an up-and-coming actress and for her personality. She had done something different with her hair and she was wearing some very well done makeup, too.

He watched as she greeted the people in the room. Finally she saw him and bowed in greeting. Perhaps he was blatantly staring, because she blushed and looked down at her clasped hands.

"Eh, who's that?" said Yashiro-san. "She looks a lot like Fuwa-kun's manager, don't you think?"

"Who?" said Ren. He was still looking at the delicate blush on Kyouko's cheeks.

"Uh, the lady in the bright pink shirt who everyone else is gaping at." He leaned towards Ren. "It's OK; I understand why you didn't notice her."

Ren looked at the rest of the party who had arrived with Kyouko. There was Amamiya-san still in her pink coveralls, and there was Kotonami-san in fashionable blouse and skirt. The fourth person he was fairly sure _was_ Aki-san, Fuwa's manager. "That's her. I remember her from Karuizawa. But she's wearing LoveMe pink. What's going on?" On closer inspection, there was even a LoveMe logo embroidered on the left upper chest of her bright pink shirt.

Aki-san looked around the room then had a brief whispered conversation with Kyouko and Kotonami-san. Then she left the room again, leaving the three LoveMe girls standing together in the middle of the room. Ren was about to head over and say hi when Naomi-san approached the girls and greeted them. He stayed back against the wall.

"Aren't you going over there?" asked Yashiro-san.

"I don't want to get in the way of her, or the other girls, making new acquaintances and contacts within the industry. It's good for them to get to know lots more people."

"You should take your own advice from time to time, Ren. How many friends do you have?"

"My career is doing fine as it is. And I have many acquaintances."

"Friends, Ren. I asked how many _friends_ you have. That's a different question."

Ren frowned and thought about it. He wouldn't exactly class the boss as a friend, or Woods-san. And he didn't hang out with Yashiro-san outside of work. There were a few actors and models who he sometimes ended up drinking with after work, but that was more of a work obligation than hanging out with friends and he always had to work hard to not look bored when out with them. _I've only just realised it now, but Kyouko is my only proper friend, and that's a one-sided friendship because she just thinks of me as a sempai. How sad is that?_

"I'm still waiting for an answer, Ren."

"It's not an important topic of conversation, nor is it relevant to today's activities."

Yashiro-san snorted, but said no more.

Ren checked his phone again. They had reached the meeting time. He felt the tension begin to ease out of his shoulders as he thought that Fuwa wasn't coming after all. But he relaxed too soon. Fuwa strode in the door at the last moment and stood there, arms crossed and feet widespread, as he surveyed the room.

Ren immediately looked to Kyouko to see if she had seen the new arrival. She had been in the middle of a conversation with Kotonami-san, but Amamiya-san had been watching the door for her. She tapped Kyouko on the shoulder and whispered something. Kyouko's face immediately froze.

Fuwa had spotted Kyouko and was looking at her with a stunned expression. He looked her up and down, taking in her full appearance.

 _Don't go falling for her now, Fuwa!_ thought Ren. _It's too late for you!_ He bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from yelling at Fuwa to get out.

Ren looked back at Kyouko to see if she had noticed the way Fuwa was looking at her. Then he nearly laughed. She raised an eyebrow at Fuwa, looked him up and down too, then looked away with a bored expression and returned to her conversation.

"What was that? Ren, what was that?" whispered Yashiro-san.

" _That_ was Setsuka Heel," he whispered back, barely containing the laugh under his voice. "She's using the character to deal with Fuwa in a different way." He smiled. What a great idea! He glanced briefly at Murasame to see if he looked like he had made the connection, but the other actor was, like many people, looking at Fuwa with a puzzled expression.

Fuwa's face contorted with anger and he took a step towards Kyouko. Ren nearly intervened, but Amamiya-san stepped between Kyouko and Fuwa with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face. Kotonami-san turned away from her conversation with Kyouko and did the same.

Ren leaned back against the wall and took up a nonchalant pose. He wouldn't make a scene. Instead, he would stay back and let the LoveMe girls handle this. They seemed ready to protect Kyouko. Ren would stick to his word and only step in if things got out of hand.

* * *

"Fuwa-kun! This is ridiculous! The drama staff haven't confirmed that you're even needed today."

Shou glared at his manager who was chasing after him along the hall. "Shouko got this job for me. I remember her saying that I would be needed for the cast announcement, so I'll be going." He had heard people whispering about his recent unprofessionalism. He'll show them! He was professional and he would go to all the jobs he was booked for.

"That was before you failed to turn in the recording on time. They may not want to announce your involvement with the project until they have the recording in hand."

"I've written the damned song, Sasaki. I put in even more effort than I would have last week. I'm going into the studio tomorrow. They should know I'm good for it!"

"We can't blame them for being cautious after you missed your first deadline, Fuwa-kun!"

Shou stomped along the hallway, ignoring his manager. He found the room labelled 'Aozora no Yume cast and crew' and strode through the door. He looked around to see if his arrival had made an impression on anyone, and that's when he saw her. _That hot chick has a hairstyle like Kyouko's, but styled better and with a cooler dye job._ Then she turned around and looked at him. _It_ is _Kyouko! I didn't mean 'hot chick', it was just an illusion!_ But when he looked her over, his stomach turned uneasily. She _was_ hot that day. She wore a fancier dress than usual and heels that made her legs seem to go on forever. Someone had clearly done her makeup for her because it actually looked good and made her look older and more refined.

With a start, he noticed he'd been gaping at her. He looked at her face to see if she had noticed. She looked him up and down too. _That's right. Look me over, because you still like me no matter what you say._ But then she looked away from him with a bored expression on her face. _What? How dare she?_ Did she think that just because someone had helped her look a tiny bit nicer than usual that she was suddenly all high and mighty? And what was she doing wearing flashy clothes to attract other people's attention, anyway? She couldn't fool anyone into thinking she was anything but just Kyouko!

He wanted to give her a piece of his mind. He stepped towards her, but then a girl he didn't know who was wearing the same kind of horrendous pink outfit he'd seen Kyouko wearing stepped between him and Kyouko. She folded her arms and glared at him. Then another taller girl, this one smoking hot, also stepped between him and Kyouko with a similar look on her face. Who _were_ these bitches?!

He looked around the room to see who else had witnessed the three girls being so rude to him. There were many actors and actresses, most of whom he didn't know. He did recognise Naomi from Akatoki, yet another bitch he didn't like. Then he saw Tsuruga. _Him too? What the heck is with this drama? Have they hired all the actors in Japan with bad personalities on purpose?_

Before he could decide whether to go after Kyouko or to go after Tsuruga instead, he heard a very familiar voice from behind.

"Fuwa-san, don't make trouble. Everyone is here to work."

He turned slowly. "What are you doing here, Shouko? Trying to worm your way back into Akatoki? I have a new manager now." He pointed at Sasaki, who stood near the door with a frozen look on his face. Then he got a good look at her. "What _are_ you wearing? You used to be so fashionable, Shouko."

"This is my uniform, Fuwa-san. I work for LME now." She brushed past him and went to stand with Kyouko, who was checking her phone, a flashy expensive-looking smartphone rather than the old flip-phone she used to use, and apparently paying no attention to him.

Shou became aware of whispered conversations around him. Some of the other actors and managers were giving him disturbed looks. He looked again at Kyouko, Shouko and the two other girls. They had closed ranks and turned their backs to him. Reluctantly Shou decided that if he tried to engage with them again in that room, word would get out and people would get the erroneous impression that he was the bad guy here.

Instead he walked over to Tsuruga, because there's nothing wrong with punching up. "Yo, Tsuruga, long time no see." He was sure that he would see dislike in the man's eyes like he had seen several times before. If his reputation was going to take a hit that day, then he would be damned sure that Tsuruga's took a hit too.

But Tsuruga merely gave a polite nod. "Good morning, Fuwa-kun." He turned to his manager as if the conversation was over.

"You don't have anything to say?"

"About what, Fuwa-kun? We don't really know each other and we've never worked together before."

Shou looked over at Kyouko again. She was watching him and Tsuruga with a tight look on her face, but when she saw him look her way she again gave him a dismissive look. The girl in the pink outfit started walking towards them, then stopped with a surprised look on her face. Shou looked back at Tsuruga in time to catch the man shaking his head at the girl.

Shou quickly flicked his gaze towards Kyouko again and then raised an eyebrow at Tsuruga. He didn't want to say 'Let's talk about Kyouko' in front of all these people he didn't know, but he was sure Tsuruga would know what he meant. But Tsuruga's demeanour became cold and distant, and he too took on a bored expression and looked away from Shou. Had Kyouko learned that look from him?

"Tch! Listen here, Tsuruga, how much time are you spending with her?"

Before he could get an answer out of the pretty-boy actor, someone called his name from the other side of the room. "Fuwa Shou, may I have a word?" The director of the drama stood in the doorway with a frown on his face. Sasaki stood beside the man waving Shou over.

Shou looked around the room. People will still eyeing him warily. That traitorous bitch Shouko in particular was eyeing him closely, but he wasn't worried about her. If she bothered him too much he could simply go to LME with the same story he'd told at Akatoki and she'd be fired again. He plastered a pleasant smile on his face and walked over to the director as if happy to please, although he would have preferred to continue his interrogation of Tsuruga. "Of course, director," he said.

The director led him out of the room and across the hallway into a smaller office. Sasaki followed them and shut the door.

"Fuwa-san, I didn't ask you to be here today," said the director. "My apologies if we weren't clear on that point since you've come all this way."

"But I was originally supposed to be here."

"Yes, but considering that we haven't received your song yet, we'd prefer to announce your involvement once we have it in hand and we're sure it's suitable for our drama."

Shou folded his arms. "I've written it already. I'm going into the studio tomorrow."

"What Fuwa-san means," interjected Sasaki, "is that we understand your position. We'd like to assure you that the song will be with you shortly, and he is looking forward to being announced as an affiliate of the project at the proper time."

That really wasn't what Shou had meant, but he couldn't refute it now. He'd have to have words with Sasaki later.

"That's good to know. Thank you," said the director. Then he frowned. "I've also just been made aware of another matter. The manager of one of our cast has let me know that you have a history of stalking and emotional abuse towards one of our actresses. I must insist, for the good of the drama, that your involvement with the project, if accepted, remains long-distance. That is to say, please don't come to any events or to the set. If anyone asks why you are not present, we will just mention a scheduling conflict to protect everyone's reputations. But we do not wish to have you interacting with our cast. Understood?"

Shou ground his teeth. "I know exactly who you heard that from. It was Shouko, wasn't it? It's all lies! Let me tell you, until last week she was my manager, and now apparently she works for LME. Anything she said to you was lies to discredit me because of her feelings of inadequacy at no longer being needed."

The director gave him a long look. "Listen, son. It's my job to understand human nature. If that was the case, she would have claimed that you have a history of harassing her, not someone else, because I can easily ask that person to verify the story."

"Kyouko also would lie to make me look bad! She and I have history."

"That's exactly what Aki-san said, Fuwa. Thank you for confirming her story. Now, would you please leave? I have an event to headline. I look forward to receiving your theme song soon. If you miss the next deadline, we will go with someone else. Good day." The man turned on his heel and left the room.

"Tch! What's that guy's problem?"

Sasaki straightened out of the bow he'd folded into as the director left the room. "I rather think that his problem is you."

"Hey, don't be so rude, Sasaki. You work for me."

"No, I work for Akatoki. Come on, let's go."

"No, I'm not done yet. I have something to do. I wanna get my hat and glasses out of your car."

"Absolutely not. We're going."

Despite Sasaki's protests, ten minutes later Shou stood at the back of the media circus in the event room wearing his disguise so that he wouldn't be recognised. No one was looking towards the back, anyway. Sasaki fretted at his side.

The cast and the director all sat on seats on the stage and fielded questions from the assembled media representatives. Only two of them held Shou's attention. Well, three. That tall friend of Kyouko's really was _smoking_. Too bad that as a friend of Kyouko's she would naturally be a bitch whose mind had been poisoned against him already.

The lead actress of the drama was that Naomi woman, and Tsuruga was sitting beside her so presumably he was her love interest. That was something, at least. Shou wouldn't put it past the love fool Kyouko to jump at the chance to play a love role opposite a pretty-boy actor like Tsuruga, then get into all sorts of trouble because of it.

Kyouko seemed to be just support cast, as was appropriate for a newbie like her. She was apparently playing the sister of the main character. Shou would have felt better if she was playing the sister of Tsuruga's character because then there would be no chance of her needing to play even a crush on him.

Kyouko sat throughout the event with her knees pressed together, her back straight, and her hands folded primly on her lap. Even though someone had put her in a fancy dress (hopefully not Tsuruga!) she was still Kyouko. She fielded one question only: about the chance to finally play a character who isn't a bully.

"I'm looking forward to it," she answered. "I've enjoyed all of the roles I've played to date and I don't regret accepting any of them. But at the same time, I would like to challenge myself to try something different and improve my skills. I hope that you will enjoy my performance." She finished her answer with a seated bow.

Shou absolutely didn't think that the smile that she gave the audience was cute; not in the slightest. And even if it was, it was just the dress and the makeup, not Kyouko herself.

Shou was starting to feel a little better about Kyouko and Tsuruga being in the same drama again. From the different roles they had, it seemed that they wouldn't have many scenes together so they wouldn't be seeing each other on the set very often. But then as the event finished and the cast stood to file off stage, he caught Tsuruga and Kyouko giving each other a look. It was a look with meaning, a look that communicated something. Infuriatingly, Shou couldn't decode it so he had absolutely no idea what they'd said to one another. _Just how close are they?! How can they do that like some old married couple?!_

 _"_ Let's go now," said Sasaki.

"I'm not done yet," said Shou.

"The event's over, Fuwa-kun. Come on, let's go."

Shou waved his manager away as he joined the stream of media representatives leaving the room. His encounter with Kyouko and Tsuruga earlier had not been satisfying because of how he had to restrain himself in front of all the witnesses. He hadn't been able to give them a piece of his mind. And he now had something else to ask them about.

In short, he still had something he had to do.

* * *

OverheardAtLME 2h  
"Look at that! A bright pink mother duck and her ducklings."

* * *

 **Next time: What happens after the cast announcement event?**

* * *

 **Happy Easter!**

 **It's been a very busy week for me and I had little writing time, but that also means I had a lovely fun-filled Easter, so that's a good thing.**

 **When I was planning this event in the story, I originally thought it would all take place in one chapter, but of course I should know by now that this story keeps getting longer than I had imagined it would. I'm sorry, but that means the main confrontation will happen in the next chapter.**

 **Bizarrely, it's quite fun getting inside Shou's head and having a go at thinking how he thinks. I mean, he's a jerk, but writing from his POV gives me a chance to chew the scenery in a satisfying way. It's almost cathartic.**

 **Has anyone read the latest chapter and the vol. 38 omake? So good! The story is getting so exciting again that I feel like my story is boring in comparison. I need to think of ways to make it more exciting! From this point on, though, I can no longer make my fanfiction fit in with the canon story, so please consider that it splits off from the real story about the time that Kyouko cried in Ren's arms (because in the omake we see Kyouko decide to take down the poster of Shou, whereas I had it still on her wall in my story). She still met her mother and had the same conversation with her as in the canon story, but after that, my story is definitely going in another direction.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

 **Author's Note:**  
 _ **Skip Beat!**_ **and its characters belong to the creator Nakamura Yoshiki.**

 _ **Skip Beat!**_ **is serialised in 'Hana to Yume' magazine (Hakusensha) and licensed in English by 'Shojo Beat' (VIZ Media, LLC).**

 **The work below is written in the spirit of fan appreciation.**  
 **UK English has been used throughout.**

* * *

Kyouko sent heartfelt thanks to the luck of the Corn stone when Mifune-kantoku called Shoutarou out of the room and apparently made him go away. She wouldn't have to deal with him after all! She could barely contain her grin throughout the pre-event briefing.

Just before they all went up on stage, Mifune-kantoku stopped beside her and whispered, "I asked him not to visit the set or come to any events, so please be at ease."

Kyouko gave him a surprised look, but he moved on before she could ask him how he knew that she would be the most pleased to hear that Shoutarou had been told to get lost. Before she had much of a chance to think about it, she had to walk out onto the stage under the bright lights and put on her professional face for the cameras.

The event went well. Most of the questions were for Mifune-kantoku and Naomi-san. Kyouko herself was only asked one question, and she muddled her way through the answer in a way that she hoped was sufficient.

The last question for Naomi-san was about how she felt about acting opposite Tsuruga Ren.

"I've been looking forward to working with him again for a while. We worked on a few of the same dramas early in our careers. Since then, his acting has gone from strength to strength, and I'm looking forward to picking up some acting tips from him."

Kyouko stifled a triumphant look. The media had taken the bait. From their line of questioning, it was clear they thought that Tsuruga-san would be playing Naomi-san's character's love interest.

Shortly after that question, the event finished. As she stood waiting for her turn to step off the stage, she caught Tsuruga-san's eye. He had a pleased look about him, and he gave her a small smile. She returned the smile. He seemed to be as glad as her that the media had made the right assumptions.

They returned to the meeting room and briefly discussed the schedule for the following week, which would be the first week of filming. Kyouko received a sheet with her filming schedule. Hers had a hand-written note at the bottom of the 'Wednesday' column telling her to expect a call about a further matter, no doubt the secret filming session. She folded the sheet and put it carefully into her diary.

After the meeting, she quickly thanked the director for his consideration. Next she wanted to say goodbye to Tsuruga-san, but Watanabe-san had engaged him in conversation. He had his polite work smile on while he nodded to whatever she was saying. Kyouko didn't want to hold up her companions so she caught his eye then gave him a smile and a wave.

"I'm ready to go now," she said to the rest of the LoveMe ladies.

"Excellent," said Shouko-san. "Let's go. I have a bad feeling Shou will be hanging around still and I want to get out of here before he finds us again."

They set out for the parking garage under the building. Chiori-san led the way, looking left and right along cross-hallways as they went. She was taking her day's LoveMe assignment very seriously, which made Kyouko glad. Chiori-san had come a long way since she joined the section.

As they reached the parking garage, Kyouko really thought that they would get away cleanly. But of course, Shoutarou knew Shouko-san's car well, and so he'd had no trouble finding it and sitting on the hood to wait for them.

He pulled off his hat and sunglasses as they approached. "Took you all long enough," he said. "Who were you gossiping with?"

 _I'm Setsuka Heel. Low tension, low tension, low tension._ She clung to the day's mantra. She put a hand on her hip and rolled her eyes, then gave Shouko-san a weary look. "I'm keen to return to LME, if that's OK, Shouko-san. I have to report to Sawara-san this afternoon to get my final schedule for the rest of the week."

"Actually, _I_ have to report to Sawara-san to get your schedule, now that I'm looking after your section, but the point still stands. We should leave now." Despite her calm words, Shouko-san's eyes were wide and she bit her lip as soon as she finished talking.

"Don't ignore me!" said Shoutarou. "I have stuff to say to both of you!" He stood up in front of them with his hands on his hips and a scowl on his face.

Kyouko said nothing, just looked at him. She kept her face blank, but inside she was surprised. It wasn't as hard to act calm as she thought it would be.

He smirked at her. "Like what you see?"

Kyouko sighed and looked away, pulling on one of Setsuka's bored looks. That's when she noticed Tsuruga-san's Porsche parked two cars away. _Oh, crap, crap, crap! We have to get him to go away before Tsuruga-san arrives!_

She tried to walk past Shoutarou to Shouko-san's car, but he grabbed her shoulder. "Where do you think you're going, Kyouko?"

She was about to tell him to let her go when all of a sudden he was ripped away from her and slammed back onto the hood of the car. Shouko-san hissed. Kyouko wasn't sure if she was hissing in automatic sympathy with Shoutarou or if she was concerned about her car.

Kanae-san and Chiori-san each held one of Shoutarou's arms and pushed him down by the shoulders.

"Good work, team," said Kyouko.

Kanae-san raised an eyebrow at Kyouko, but Chiori-san said, "No problem, Nattchan. I'm your right hand, after all."

Kyouko flushed. She hadn't noticed that she had slipped into that character, but the physical situation was very similar to some of the bullying scenes she'd filmed for _Box-R_ even if the meaning was vastly different.

"Girls, let him go," said Shouko-san. "There'll be security cameras."

"And they'll show that he grabbed Kyouko first," said Kanae-san.

"It'll look like an overreaction, though, because the footage won't show the context. Please, just let him go, girls. For the sake of your careers."

The two LoveMe girls let go of Shoutarou and backed away. Kyouko bit her lip. Had she just got her friends in trouble? She wouldn't forgive herself if so. "Thank you for looking out for me, but please don't get in trouble for my sake."

"Maybe we just wanted to throw him around," said Kanae-san. "I hate guys like this."

Shoutarou walked towards Shouko-san. "Looking out for their careers, huh? Until last week you were doing that for me, you traitor."

Shouko-san's face grew blotchy and she clenched her teeth. "You dare to call me a traitor? You're the traitor! _You_ discarded _me_ , Shou! You got me fired from Akatoki. How _dare_ you call me a traitor for finding a job with another company?"

He stepped closer and raised his voice. "You ran straight to _her_! You're ganging up on me!"

Shouko-san also stepped closer until she was practically yelling into his face. "I've taken on the job that was offered to me by the president of LME. You really think that I was thinking of you at all when I accepted the offer? I need a job to pay my rent and buy my food, Shou. Did you think of that at all when you got me fired, huh?" She tossed her curled hair. "Don't think so much of yourself, Shou."

Kyouko saw the tension ripple through Shoutarou's neck. She instinctively knew he would attack Shouko-san. She leapt forward to intervene, as did her friends. Kyouko grabbed two handfuls of the back of his denim jacket. A stud on the back cracked one of her nails as she put her weight into the hold. Between the three of them, they push/pulled him away from Shouko-san before he did anything to her.

Shoutarou looked beyond Shouko-san. "You going to jump in too? Are you all going to gang up on me unfairly?"

Kyouko let go of Shoutarou's jacket and stepped out from behind him to get a better look. A jolt of panic shot through her from the top of her spine to the pit of her stomach. Tsuruga-san stood nearby leaning against a concrete pillar with his arms folded. Yashiro-san stood nearby, his mouth gaping like a koi's.

"Nah," said Tsuruga-san, sounding surprisingly casual. "The girls can take care of themselves. I'm just enjoying the show." He smiled his most sparkling fake smile. Kyouko could have roasted a sweet potato in the waves of anger she felt rippling from him. True to his word, he stayed where he was, for which Kyouko was immensely grateful. She knew Tsuruga-san would never hurt her, or any of the other girls, or pretty much anyone really. But Shoutarou? Yes, she could imagine him hurting Shoutarou, and if his run-ins with Murasame-san on the set of _Tragic Marker_ were anything to go by, it would be very, very bad for his reputation if he did.

"Who exactly are you watching?" demanded Shoutarou. "I saw you at the end of the event. Why were you making eyes at Kyouko?"

Tsuruga-san looked at her and frowned. 'Making eyes?' He mouthed silently. Kyouko was similarly puzzled. They both shrugged at one another then looked back at Shoutarou.

"You're doing it again!"

"Doing what, Fuwa-kun?" asked Tsuruga-san.

"Communicating with your eyes like an old married couple! It's so gross!"

Kyouko blushed; she couldn't help it. She glanced at Tsuruga-san, but he was looking away from them towards Yashiro-san, who himself suddenly had a rather enthusiastic look on his face.

"Don't," said Tsuruga-san to Yashiro-san.

Kyouko was distracted from wondering what he meant by Shouko-san. "Would you just leave us in peace, Shou?" she said. "I have to get the girls back to LME, so please just go."

Shoutarou gritted his teeth and again tried to advance on Shouko-san. Again, Kanae-san and Chiori-san stopped him by grabbing his arms. He satisfied himself by shouting from a distance. "You think looking after these wannabe actors at that ridiculous agency will be anywhere near as satisfying as being my manager? We could have gone far together if you hadn't started looking down on me, Shouko!"

"I didn't look down on you, Shou! I jut got pissed off at your juvenile behaviour!"

Kyouko held up her hands. "Shouko-san, please calm down. Don't sink to his level. Can we just go now?"

Shoutarou snorted and took a step back. When Kyouko's friends let go of him again, he sat on the boot of Shouko-san's car with his arms crossed.

"How juvenile," said Kyouko with a Setsuka-worthy eye-roll. "Don't you realise how many busy people you are holding up?"

Shoutarou sneered at her. "How important do you think you are? Just 'coz you're wearing a fancier outfit than normal and look half-way decent—"

"Oh, you think I look nice today, Shoutarou? Thank you!" She gave him a fake smile and tried to make it sparkle like one of Tsuruga-san's angry smiles. She heard a few snickers around her, most notably from Yashiro-san.

"Wh-what? You're not supposed to _thank_ me," said Shoutarou. "Girls are supposed to be all like, 'Oh no, I'm not cute at all.'" He spoke his example in a high-pitched voice and fluttered his eyelashes. "Damn, Kyouko, you have no idea how to behave like a cool girl."

Kyouko stilled a moment. Was he right? She had seen that behaviour a lot. Was Muse-sama's advice only applicable in certain situations? But, wait, why trust Shoutarou? She looked to the LoveMe girls. "Is he right? Should I coyly avoid any compliments?"

"Hell no!" said Kanae-san.

"Listen to Woods-san over this creep," said Chiori-san.

"You girls have no idea what guys want," said Shoutarou. "It's not just my opinion. All guys feel the same. That guy over there no doubt also finds girls arrogantly agreeing with compliments to be off-putting." He pointed directly at Tsuruga-san.

"I do not," said Tsuruga-san. "Only whiny little man-babies want women to be less confident than them to feed their own egos."

Kyouko snorted. Had he really just indirectly called Shoutarou a 'whiny little man-baby'? This was way more fun to watch than him getting angry at Shoutarou like she'd feared he would. Shouko-san had covered her mouth, presumably to cover a grin.

"Well, then, thank you _so_ much for your compliment, Fuwa-san," said Kyouko, pretending that he was just someone else in the entertainment industry who she barely knew. "Now if you'll excuse us ..."

"Don't make fun of me!" He leapt up and rushed at her faster than anyone could stop him, his hand raised as if he was about to hit her. Kyouko flinched, waiting for the pain.

 _Ch-chk!_ The parking lot echoed with a very noticeable camera sound.

Kyouko opened her eyes and saw Shoutarou standing in front of her frozen in place with his hand still raised. She looked to the side: Naomi-san and her manager Endou-san stood nearby. Naomi-san held her phone before her like a camera.

"Oooh! I caught it!" she said. Then she held her phone normally and tapped at the screen.

Kyouko's own phone chimed in her pocket. She pulled it out and opened the email she'd received from Naomi-san. It contained a very clear flash-lit photo of Shoutarou about to hit her, and herself flinching away in fear.

"Send that to the LME legal team," said Naomi-san. "Tell them to sit on it until this guy annoys you again, then take appropriate action. See you all later!" She gave a jaunty wave and then wandered off towards Endou-san's car.

"Thank you!" called Kyouko.

Naomi-san gave an 'OK' sign over her shoulder as she walked.

"Badass," said Chiori-san.

Shoutarou let his hand drop. "That ... What?"

"Are you going away now?" asked Kanae-san.

He glared at her, then looked past her and sighed.

Shoutarou's new manager strode through the parking garage towards them. "What are you doing?" he said when he was in earshot. "You said you had something quick to take care of. We have to go, Fuwa-san!"

"I'm not done yet, Sasaki!"

"Oh, yes you are." The man spotted Shouko-san. "Ah, is he giving you trouble, Aki-san?"

"Yes, Sasaki-san, he is."

Sasaki-san bowed. "My humble apologies." He grabbed Shoutarou's upper arm and attempted to lead him away. "Let's go."

But Shoutarou pulled out of the man's grip. "No!"

Sasaki-san hissed. "Would someone help convince him, please? You all seem to know him."

Kyouko felt a deep weariness. First she was ambushed in the parking garage, and then she had to argue with him, and now she had to convince him to leave because his new manager couldn't? Suddenly, all she wanted to do was go home and curl up in her futon.

But then Tsuruga-san stepped away from the concrete pillar he had been leaning against and waved his hands in the direction Sasaki-san had come from. "Go on, Fuwa-san. It's time for us all to leave."

"Don't patronise me!"

"It's time to leave, Fuwa-san. Be a good boy."

Kyouko gasped when Shoutarou threw a punch at Tsuruga-san. But her sempai easily caught the punch, twisted Shoutarou's arm, and then hoisted the younger man up onto his shoulder in a fireman's hold.

"Or we could do it this way," he said, not even breathless at carrying another person. "Please lead me to your car, sir," he said to Sasaki-san.

Shoutarou struggled. "Oi! Don't carry me like this!"

Tsuruga-san started following Shoutarou's manager. "Would you prefer that I carry you in a princess hold, Fuwa-kun?"

"I don't wanna be carried at all!" His shouts echoed around the cavernous area.

Kyouko and her friends all cracked up laughing. Kyouko couldn't restrain the mirth that bubbled up from her as she watched the ridiculous sight. _Princess hold?!_ She had to hold her sides she was laughing so much.

"Thank you so much for protecting me," she said to Kanae-san and Chiori-san when she was in control of her voice again. "It felt so good to not have to face him alone like usual."

"No problem," said Chiori-san.

"Thank you all for protecting me, too," said Shouko-san. "You barely even know me, and yet ..."

"It's fine. Glad we could help," said Kanae-san.

"Yeah!" added Kyouko. "It's what we do!" She struck a pose and held her fingers out in an 'L' shape.

"Mou, Kyouko, don't do that. It's so embarrassing!"

Kyouko pouted.

Yashiro-san stepped towards Shouko-san and introduced himself. While the two managers became acquainted and swapped business cards, the LoveMe girls stood in a tight group.

"Are you sure you're OK?" asked Kanae-san. "That was so intense! I can't believe we had to physically restrain him."

Kyouko grinned at her best friend. "I'm OK, honest. It was difficult, but because my friends were here for me, it was OK."

"Is he always like that?" asked Chiori-san. "I had no idea he was such a jerk! The entertainment industry shouldn't let guys like that into their ranks in the first place."

Kyouko bit her lip. "He wasn't always that bad. I mean, in retrospect he was quite arrogant and entitled. Not that I really noticed at the time, because I was raised in an environment where it was natural to see him being treated special. But he's so much worse now. Fame's gone to his head, I think."

"It's more than that."

Kyouko jumped and yelped. She hadn't heard Tsuruga-san return. He was so quiet on his feet for someone so big!

"Oh?" she said in an attempt to cover her reaction.

"He smelled like alcohol. Not strongly: I only noticed it because I was carrying him. But, really? It's barely the afternoon, and he's under-aged besides."

Kyouko sighed. "He used to make me get beer for him."

Everyone's eyes bugged out. "What?" said Chiori-san.

At the same time, Tsuruga-san said, "How?"

Kyouko gave her sempai a crooked smile. "I guess you weren't as much of a bad boy in your youth as I had guessed. It's pretty easy to walk up to a beer vending machine and buy a few cans."*

Tsuruga-san cleared his throat and looked away. "You did that for him?"

Kyouko didn't answer. It was hard for her to admit how many stupid things she'd done for Shoutarou over the years.

"Congratulations for not letting that guy get to you," said Kanae-san. "I know enough about your history with him to know that you've come a long way to get to this point."

Kyouko sighed.

"What? What did I say? You look like I just killed a puppy in front of you."

"He _did_ get to me. Right from the very beginning. I just pretended that he didn't."

"Same difference!" said Kanae-san. "What it feels like on the inside doesn't matter as much right now as how you look on the outside. The rest can come later."

"Mouko-san!" Kyouko surprised her best friend with a rapid-launch hug.

"Mou! Get off!"

"There's an English phrase," said Tsuruga-san, ignoring the display of unwanted affection before him. "'Fake it 'til you make it'. Do you understand?"

Kyouko paused, forgetting for the moment that Kanae-san was still pushing at her face to prise her away. "I understand 'fake it' but not 'make it'. Make what?"

He smiled. "There are more meanings of the word 'make' in English than in Japanese. The phrase means that if you pretend to be what you want to be long enough, eventually you will become it without you even realising when it happened."

She smiled at him in return. "That's it. That's it exactly. Is it OK to do things that way?"

"Yeah, it is. At least I hope so."

* * *

OverheardAtLME 3h  
"T-12 days until the next LME auditions. Who wants to place bets on what kind of talent the president will hire next?"

* * *

 _* Yes, in Japan there are vending machines for beer just randomly sitting on the side of the road. I always wondered how Japan expected to be able to enforce their minimum drinking age when it was possible to get alcohol without going through a human checkout operator. Of course, Ren hadn't realised this because by the time he moved to Japan he was on his best behaviour._

* * *

 **Next time: Somehow, the president takes advantage of even Kyouko's YouTube series for his own nefarious purposes.**

* * *

 **Have you heard about the Kickstarter to raise funds to make an official dub of the** _ **Skip Beat!**_ **anime? If you're in North America, you should check it out because there is some amazing merchandise available through the campaign. Also, this is the shoujo manga/anime fan community's biggest chance to prove that yes, we will buy stuff if it's available, so please license more stuff, media companies!**

 **I heard about it early on and was disappointed to find that all of the physical rewards (not just the DVDs, but the swag too) are only available to supporters in Northern America. (I live in New Zealand.) I even contacted the company (Pied Piper) to ask if there were any physical rewards that they could make available internationally, but the contact person said they only had North American rights for everything, including the merchandise. I was sad for a while that I wouldn't be able to get anything, then chipped in at the $15 level (the most expensive level available to me).**

 **But this morning I had a realisation: I'm an idiot! I have a whole group of people here who I could ask for help. Is there anyone out there who has supported the Kickstarter campaign, or who will support it, and who would be happy to help me get some of the physical rewards? Pied Piper is offering extra rewards as add-ons. Would you be willing to add some swag to your pledge and then send it to me when it arrives? I would send the money for what I'd like via , and I'd also send money for postage so you wouldn't be out of pocket at all. If you're able to help me, please send me a PM so we can work out the details.**

 **Anyway, about this fic: I can't believe I'm at nearly 80K after only a few months! I'm at what I think of as "end of Act 1". Acts 2 & 3 may be shorter, but then again they may not. Which means this fic may be up to 240K long by the end. What have I done?! orz **

**I've been feeling guilty recently about my writing slowing down after the first rush, but to tell you the truth even now I'm making much more progress than I've ever made on any story before. The best I've ever done in the past was 750 words a day on average, 5 days a week, while I was writing a novel draft in 2012. But that was just writing, no revising, so all in all I'm doing well at the moment. I think it's because all your reviews and favourites give me the best motivation to write, so thank you :) I should've tried fanfiction years ago!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

 **Author's Note:**  
 _ **Skip Beat!**_ **and its characters belong to the creator Nakamura Yoshiki.**

 _ **Skip Beat!**_ **is serialised in 'Hana to Yume' magazine (Hakusensha) and licensed in English by 'Shojo Beat' (VIZ Media, LLC).**

 **The work below is written in the spirit of fan appreciation.**  
 **UK English has been used throughout.**

* * *

The Darumaya was closed on Mondays. The Taisho and the Okami had already gone to bed to get their weekly early-night's sleep. Any other day of the week Kyouko would have been helping to tidy up the shop before bed. Instead, she stood looking up at the poster of Shoutarou on the wall. She thought about her encounter with him that day. He had seemed so out of place among her friends and acquaintances, not only because of his behaviour but because he was from a different part of the industry. Why exactly had she thought to measure her success against his anyway? It wasn't a close enough comparison. But of course at the time she hadn't yet fallen in love with acting. She hadn't decided what she would do within the talent section. But now she knew.

Slowly, hesitantly, she reached out and took hold of the edge of the poster. It popped off the wall with little effort: the blu-tak had long ago turned brittle. She folded the poster neatly and put it on the pile of recycling beside her bin.

She reached out for the poster of Tsuruga-san too, but her hand froze in the air. Instead of pulling it down, she caressed the image of his face with one finger.

He was an appropriate inspiration for her chosen career. At least, that's what she told herself she was leaving the poster up for.

* * *

Early the next morning, Kyouko rode the elevator up to the president's office.

"Good morning, Mogami-sama," said the president's EA. "He's ready to see you."

Kyouko bowed. It always made her feel like a fraud when the mysterious man used the '-sama' suffix for her name. She didn't feel important enough to deserve it.

He held the door open and she entered the office. She bowed to the two men inside. "Takarada-shachou, Matsudaira-itamae-san, good morning."

The president nodded to Kyouko. "Thank you for coming, Mogami-kun."

The chef inclined his head more formally than the president. "Good morning, Mogami-san," he said.

Kyouko took the seat that the president indicated.

"Matsudaira-san has seen the draft video of your first cooking show," said the president.

Kyouko gripped her knees and looked to the restaurant chef. "May I ask what you thought of the video, sir? Is it up to standard?"

The middle-aged man smiled at her, making crows feet appear around his eyes. "Yes, I enjoyed it very much. I'm amazed that you and little Maria-chan made it on your own, with help from a guest star who is of a similar age."

"Maria-chan is very talented!" said Kyouko.

The president preened at the praise of his beloved granddaughter.

"You are also talented. I don't think I would have thought to explain the angle to hold the pan in such detail because it's so natural to me now. I'm sure viewers of the video will have no trouble following your instructions."

Warmth suffused Kyouko's heart at his praise. She gave a seated bow. "Thank you so much for your kind words."

"Do you have any changes you want the girls to make to the video?" asked the president.

"I can't think of anything at all, Lory-kun," said the chef. "So long as the Nebunohana's sponsorship message is added to the video, I'm more than happy for it to be released online."

They discussed a few more details of the video release, and then Matsudaira-san stood to leave. Kyouko also stood and bowed to him. When she straightened, he held out an envelope to her.

"This is a token of appreciation of our new business arrangement. Please accept it."

Kyouko eyed the envelope with surprise. She hadn't expected to receive anything. She hid her surprise under her polite business face, accepted the envelope, and then bowed deeply again. "Than you very much."

"It's no problem." The chef then left, bowing from the doorway before leaving.

"Stay a moment, Mogami-kun," said the president.

She retook her seat and ran the envelope through her fingers.

"Why don't you open that?" asked the president. "I think I know what it is, but I'm interested to see if I'm right."

Kyouko peeled the envelope open and slid out a piece of expensive washi with shiny pink silk threads on a white base paper. Her eyes bulged. "It's a gift voucher for the Nebunohana restaurant. It's for 15,000 yen!"

The president nodded. "As I thought. That's about enough for a meal for two at the Nebunohana, I believe, so long as the two don't have lots of expensive drinks."

"Shachou, I'm only 17. I don't drink."

He nodded. "Of course. You haven't yet had a chance to deal with this sort of situation, Mogami-kun, so please let me give you some advice. When a business contact gives you, a talent, a voucher or free opportunity like this it's not just a gift. It's also an obligation."

Kyouko carefully slid the voucher back into its envelope. "What kind of obligation?"

"An obligation to bring the giver attention and more business opportunities. As a public figure, if you visit a place it's perceived as an endorsement. That voucher therefore is similar to the funding for the video series. It is designed to benefit both you and the Nebunohana."

"I'm not important enough for anyone to pay attention to where I eat."

"Not yet. You will be, I'm sure. Until then, you had better choose your companions closely to be able to repay the obligation in a way that is effective."

Kyouko bit her lip, not liking where this conversation was going. "I was thinking of asking Mouko-san to go with me."

"No, I don't think so, Mogami-kun. Since you haven't dated any men yet, the press might start to think your interests lie in the other direction. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but such a rumour would be counter-productive when it's not true and when you're already in love with a man."

Kyouko ground her teeth. Did he have to casually bring up her shame? "What are you planning, Shachou? I feel like you're scheming, and it makes me uncomfortable. Sir."

He sat forward and laid his palms flat on his desk. "How rude! You're picking up bad habits. I'm not scheming at all. Scheming is beneath me."

 _Says the man dressed as a matador for no reason whatsoever._

"I'm simply trying to impress upon you the importance of choosing well when deciding whom to invite to the restaurant," he continued. "You should ask a man, someone who is famous enough to draw attention to the restaurant. Can you think of anyone who fits that description?" He gave her a wide-eyed, innocent look that didn't at all suit his face.

"Ah," said Kyouko when it all became clear. "I see. Takarada-shachou, you said you wouldn't meddle." Even to herself she sounded petulant. How had she got to the point where it was OK to talk to the president of a large company like this?

"I'm not meddling. Meddling would be arranging a blind date for you. If you ask him yourself, it's your own doing."

"I can't." Her face burned at the thought.

"Of course you can. If you're not ready to tell him about your feelings, you can simply tell him the logical reasoning for why you need to ask him and not others. That guy knows how these things work."

"But that means he'd be seen with me …"

"That guy isn't seen with young women enough. The press might start thinking _his_ interests lie in the other direction, too. I've been concerned about this for a while. You'll be doing me a favour."

"But his reputation …"

The president sighed and sat back in his chair. "I'm the one who would make decisions about both his career and yours if the media did whip up a story about it. Other talent agencies may penalise their talents as soon as they show signs of having normal human lives, but I assure you LME does no such thing."

Kyouko rubbed her face. Even knowing he was manipulating her didn't help her avoid his tactics. "There are other people I could ask. Why don't I ask one of the Bridge Rock members? They would go with me."

"Do you want Ren to misunderstand and think you're dating someone?"

"Would it matter?"

"I don't know; would it?"

Kyouko stared at him for a long moment then hung her head. She imagined Tsuruga-san getting the wrong end of the stick and thinking she was dating someone. Even though she had no hope that he would ever be interested in her that way, he might pull back and spend less time with her to make sure he wasn't suspected of fooling around with someone who he thought wasn't single. She didn't want that. She couldn't bear the thought of seeing less of him than she already did.

In short, she'd been manoeuvred straight into the trap even though she had known exactly where it was.

"I can make this a LoveMe assignment if I really must," said the president.

"There's no need for that. I'd rather not wear my pink coveralls to a fancy restaurant."

The president snorted. "I agree. That's not the kind of attention I had in mind."

Kyouko dug her fingers into her knees. "I'll do my best."

"Good girl."

* * *

OverheardAtLME 12 h  
"There are impressionable young people here. Isn't that Styrofoam bull a bit ... confronting?"  
"The term is 'Well hung'."

* * *

 **Next time: Kyouko films for** _ **Box-R**_ **one last time.**

* * *

 **I only have a small chapter for you this time, but I have some other writing you might be interested in too. I recently posted a couple of one-shots for Kyoko x Ren Week, which was held over on Tumblr. You can find them in my story called 'Stepping Stones'.**

 **I'm glad that Nakamura-sensei has now shown Kyouko taking down the poster (we assume) in the volume 38 omake. I've been waiting for it to come down for a long time. I still had to bring it down in this story, though, since I had described it as still being on the wall in my chapter 3.**


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

 **Author's Note:**  
 _ **Skip Beat!**_ **and its characters belong to the creator Nakamura Yoshiki.**

 _ **Skip Beat!**_ **is serialised in 'Hana to Yume' magazine (Hakusensha) and licensed in English by 'Shojo Beat' (VIZ Media, LLC).**

 **The work below is written in the spirit of fan appreciation.**  
 **UK English has been used throughout.**

* * *

Kyouko ran her fingers through the long hair and looked at her reflection from several angles. It was nice to have long hair for a change, although she still felt more like herself with short hair.

The _Box-R_ costume manager had put her in a grown-up dress and a long wig similar to her normal hair colour. She looked like a dressed-down version of what she had looked like at the _Dark Moon_ party. She would be playing Natsu in an epilogue set 5 years after the main story. Somehow she'd been aged up to look like she really was 22 or so.

"May I take a picture of this look?" asked Kyouko. "I don't often get to look this grown-up."

"Sure," said the costume manager. "Do you want me to take the picture for you?"

"Yes, please." Kyouko handed her phone to the woman and then stood by the wall. The costume manager then took about a dozen photos from various angles.

"How do you feel about shooting your last scene?" she asked as she snapped away.

Kyouko bit her lip. "Very sad, actually. I know people might be surprised because of the type of character I played, but I've had a lot of fun on set. I'm going to miss spending time with everyone."

"You've found a new drama, though, right? I saw your name in a recent cast announcement."

"Yep! I start filming next week."

"Straight into it, then! No rest for the wicked."

Kyouko smiled. "I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I had no work."

"Go to school? You must miss your school friends when you're shooting for a drama."

Kyouko tried to keep the smile on her face, but it fell nonetheless. "I don't really have friends at school."

The woman lowered Kyouko's cellphone and handed it back to her. "Oh, I'm sorry. You get along so well with everyone here despite a shaky start, I thought for sure you would have heaps of friends at school."

Kyouko grinned. "I have friends at LME, very good friends. I think I have trouble at school because I'm a year older than everyone in my class." It wasn't quite the reason why she had trouble making friends; the real reason was Mimori-san. But it was true enough not to be a lie.

"Oh, how did that happen?"

 _Oops._ "It's a long story. I had to take a year off for personal reasons."

Thankfully the conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door of the dressing room. "On set in 5!" called one of the assistants through the door.

"I'd better get out there. Thank you for taking my picture, and for making me look so lovely." Kyouko bowed to the woman. She put her cellphone back in her handbag and then hurried out of the dressing room.

It was a difficult scene to shoot. She had to walk the fine line between keeping her character consistent and recognisable, but also giving her five years of emotional maturity and regret about her actions in high school. In the scene she was shooting, Natsu was an office worker in her twenties. Kyouko was playing a character who was older than Tsuruga-san, much to her amusement.

She stood in a wide hallway on the sound stage. It had been set up to look like a hallway in an office building. Marumi-san stood nearby, twisting on the balls of her feet to make her skirt swish. "It's so ladylike!" she said.

Kyouko was already in character so she just rolled her eyes at the other actor's childish antics. Privately, Kyouko thought she would probably have swished the silk skirt in a similar way if she had been wearing it.

"Are you ready for take one, girls?" asked the director.

"Yes," they both answered. Marumi-san saluted.

"Action!" called the director.

"Long time no see, Chitose-san. How have you been?" said Kyouko. She tempered Natsu's previous malice. She tried to seem like she was attempting to be a polite member of society, but she was less than earnest in doing so.

Marumi-san shrank away. "I've been well, Kitazawa-san."

"Cut!" cried the director. "Marumi-san, you looked too scared just then. Chitose-san has had five years to get over what happened in high school. She's more confident now."

"Marumi doesn't understand," said the girl, referring to herself in the third person again.

Kyouko smiled at her. "You've already beaten me," she said. "You're the princess who has become queen, right? And I'm the witch who has had her powers taken away. I can't hurt you any more. But because you're such a nice and kind queen, you don't gloat over me. You're very polite, even though you still don't like me."

"Marumi is the _queen_?" Her eyes glittered.

It seemed they had similar interests. Kyouko suddenly wondered if when she was having her fairytale moments she looked like as much of an airhead as Marumi-san generally looked. She suppressed a shudder. "A very nice and humble queen."

Marumi-san swished her skirt again. "In a lovely dress."

They tried the scene again. This time, Marumi-san was a lot closer to the tone the director had asked for. They exchanged a few awkward lines of dialogue, portraying two people who didn't have good memories of one another but who wanted to be polite nonetheless.

Kyouko felt nervous as the turn in the scene approached. The conversation petered down to silence, and then Marumi-san turned away.

"Chitose-san!" called Kyouko.

"Yes?"

"I, ah, I'm sorry, OK?" Kyouko delivered the line as awkwardly as she could. Natsu knew she had to apologise, but still she had so much pride in her that it was one of the most difficult things she had ever done. "I mean, I get it now. Kind of. I don't have any excuses for my behaviour back then, but I do know I treated you poorly. I'm sorry." She stood in a neutral stance and with her arms at her side, much of Natsu's normal bravado stripped away from her body language.

Marumi-san stared at her over her shoulder for a long moment. Then she smiled. "I forgive you, Kitazawa-san. You were just a kid then, too. I forgive you."

Here was the tricky part. Kyouko had thought through Natsu's feelings in this scene many times since receiving the script. She thinks she wants to be forgiven, but when she receives that forgiveness, it doesn't feel as good as she thought it would. Her pride still gets in the way, as does her guilt because she doesn't feel like she truly deserves forgiveness. These were conflicting ideas, but Kyouko couldn't help but think that Natsu would feel both at the same time. She gave Marumi-san a long, silent look in which she tried her best to convey all of those conflicting emotions.

"Cut!" cried the director. "That was brilliant, girls. Well done! Take 5, everyone! I'm going to check the footage. If it's good, we'll be filming Chitose's phone call next."

Kyouko stood stunned on the set for a moment. Unless they needed to re-film anything, that was it for her and _Box-R_. Her last scene was in the can. She missed Natchan already.

* * *

"I can't believe it's over!" said Sudo-san.

"The drama's still running, though. There's still three more episodes to air," said Makino-san.

"That's not the same." She leaned against the wall. They all stood in the hallway outside the dressing rooms, none of them quite ready to leave the group and the easy camaraderie they had built up over the weeks.

"Marumi still has some scenes to film!" said Marumi-san.

"Yeah, but the rest of us have finished," said Makino-san.

"How do you feel about finishing, Kyouko-san?" said Sudo-san.

Kyouko scuffed a foot on the floor. She had dropped Natsu entirely now that she had finished her last scene. "To be honest, rather sad. Natsu may have been the villain but I couldn't help but develop a soft-spot for her, because through her I got to work closely with all of you."

"That's so lovely!" said Marumi-san.

"How about you, Chiori-chan?" asked Makino-san.

Chiori-san tilted her head to the side and gave a pained smile. "I'm also sad, to be honest. I've enjoyed filming for this drama. I feel like I've learned a lot."

"Me, too."

"Me, three!"

Kyouko watched Chiori-san closely. She seemed even sadder than she was letting on to the others.

The director walked down the hall towards them. "Thank you, girls, for your hard work today. And those of you who have finished your scenes, thank you so much for your hard work throughout the show." He gave them a bow, and they all gave him deeper bows in response.

"Thank you for asking us to work with you," said Kyouko. "It has been a pleasure."

The other girls nodded or murmured their agreement.

"I'll look forward to seeing you all at the drama wrap party. Let's have a proper farewell then. See you later!" He then scooted off in the direction of another group.

"That free spirit," said Kyouko. "He didn't say when the wrap party is. Does anyone know?"

They all shook their heads.

"I think our managers will be told," said Marumi-san.

 _Ah, of course,_ thought Kyouko. _That's the kind of thing Shouko-san can now do for me. Having a manager is so weird!_

Shouko-san arrived just then, as if summoned by Kyouko's thoughts. "Kyouko-san, Chiori-san, are you ready to go?"

"Yes," said Chiori-san.

"Just a moment!" said Kyouko. Then she turned to the other girls. "I have a quick question ..."

* * *

Ten minutes later, Kyouko and Chiori-san sat in the back of Shouko-san's car while Shouko-san drove them back to their homes. There was still a copy of _Rolling Stone_ shoved in the back pocket of the driver's seat. Kyouko scowled at it. There was no doubt in her mind that the magazine was Shoutarou's.

She put the reminder of him aside and turned to Chiori-san who sat quietly watching the Tokyo evening slide by.

"Are you OK, Chiori-san?" she asked.

Chiori-san blinked as she turned to Kyouko. "Yes, of course. Why?"

"You seem rather upset."

Chiori-san shook her head. "It's nothing."

Kyouko pursed her lips as she watched the other girl. What was bothering her so much? Chiori-san was a pro with a spine of steel. This wasn't normal. She'd never seen her behaving quite like this since she had joined the LoveMe section. But then Kyouko remembered the situation in which Chiori-san had joined the section in the first place. "Oh! Has the president given you the green light to pursue other acting opportunities yet?"

Chiori-san looked out the window again. "No. I'm only allowed to work on variety and comedy shows until I can demonstrate sufficient 'love' for acting. Whatever that means."

Kyouko's shoulder's slumped. "Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to draw your attention to it further."

"It's OK."

"Can you talk it out with him? Maybe you're nearly there?"

"I don't think so. I don't even know what he wants me to do."

Kyouko sighed. That must be so frustrating. At least she knew what the president wanted her to do, even if she wasn't willing to do it yet. Kyouko had an idea that she would be able to graduate the LoveMe section if she confessed her feelings to Tsuruga-san. It was a good thing that she was enjoying being a LoveMe section member with her friends, so she could ignore that pressure.

She looked at the rear-view mirror and caught Shouko-san peeking at them from the driver's seat. "Shouko-san, would you be able to help Chiori-san with this? Is it something you could do?"

"Um, I don't understand the whole story. Why don't you tell me about it, Chiori-san?"

Kyouko sat back and listened to Chiori-san tell the story of how she joined the LoveMe section and the rules the president had set for her. The story nearly, but not quite, distracted her from thoughts of what she would have to do that evening.

* * *

Ren stepped into the dressing room he had been given for the day. He was most of the way through a magazine shoot, but he had to wait twenty minutes while the woman he was modelling with changed into a different, more elaborate outfit. He pulled out his phone and checked his messages. His heart thudded when he saw the missed call from Kyouko. He grinned when he saw she'd left a voice mail. He wondered what the message would be like this time. She hadn't left him a single normal voice mail in the entire time he'd known her.

 _-Ah! Ah, oh, um ...-_ followed by the crash-thump of a dropped phone, then silence.

He covered his mouth as he laughed. He didn't want to be overheard by anyone in the adjoining dressing rooms.

There was no way of telling if the call was important or not. He would just have to ring her.

She picked up on the fourth ring. _-Hello, this is Mogami.-_ Her voice was tiny and strained. She knew it was him and she was embarrassed about the message she had left.

He couldn't help but let out his Puckish side. "Hello, Mogami-san. Are you OK? You didn't fall down, did you?"

There was silence on the other end of the line for at least five seconds. - _No, just my phone. Tsuruga-san, you're not laughing at me, are you?-_ There was a warning note in her voice.

"No, not at all. What can I do for you?"

More silence.

Ren's heart constricted. "Mogami-san? Has something happened?"

 _-Oh! No, no, don't worry. I'm fine. Thank you for your concern.-_

"So, what can I help you with?"

Even more silence.

"Please, Mogami-san, I'm on a break. I only have so long for this call."

 _-Oh, um, well, you see, the thing is, um,-_ she took a breath. _-So, you know about that video series I'm doing?-_

"Yes. Do you want me to be one of your guests?"

 _-No. I mean, yes, I would, but the president said no. Um, but there's a sponsor of the show, a restaurant ...-_

"Go on."

 _-And the owner gave me a voucher ...-_

A smile began to play at the corner of Ren's mouth and remained despite his attempts at control. He had an inkling of where the conversation was heading. "Oh?"

 _-And, well, the president said there are certain obligations, and, um, it's work, I assure you! It's totally, 100% a work thing, and I'm not being frivolous or anything.-_

"You're talking in circles, Mogami-san. Please just get to the point."

 _-WOULDYOUGOWITHME, to the restaurant, I mean, UMIT'STOTALLYNOTADATE, uh, but I need someone to go with me.-_

"You're asking me to go to a restaurant with you? To have dinner?" He was in full-grin mode.

 _-Yes, for a WORK-RELATED DINNER. Yes.-_

"I'd love to."

 _-Really?-_ she squeaked.

"Of course. We had fun at the gyuudon place the other day, right? I'd like to do that again, and this seems like the perfect opportunity. What's the restaurant's name, and when will you be free over the next few weeks? I'll need to check with Yashiro-san to see when I'm free."

Yashiro-san found him several minutes later, still sitting in his chair staring at his phone with a huge grin on his face. "What happened?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing in particular." Ren schooled his expression. "After the shoot finishes today, could we have a quick catch-up about my schedule for the next few weeks?"

"Sure." Yashiro-san gave him a sly look. "Do you have plans?"

"Oh, look at the time," said Ren, glancing at his (broken) watch. "They'll want me back on stage any moment." He dropped his phone back into his bag and then strode out of the dressing room.

"Oi! Ren! Don't ignore my question!"

* * *

OverheardAtLME 12 h  
"Did you hear that unearthly shriek?"  
"Nope. And I'm sticking to that."

* * *

 **Next time: Shouko wants to have a quick word with Ren.**

* * *

 **Haha, so a funny thing happened. I completely burned out and had to take a break from writing! I had a very busy patch at work and I could not do both. Oh, well.**

 **I mostly enjoyed the latest chapter of** _ **Skip Beat!**_ **The new story arc is very interesting and has a lot of potential. No doubt Nakamura-sensei will do something we're not expecting. I did have one little problem with the chapter, though. I don't want to be too specific and spoilery, but Ren pulled another one of his 'manipulate the unaware Kyouko' moves. It makes me very uncomfortable when he does that, and I have little patience for it. Holding back his past is fine with me, because it's something he has trouble with. There's nothing wrong with him looking out for his mental health. But when he manipulates Kyouko and tricks her into behaving closer to him, particularly if it is her feelings of guilt or obligation that he's manipulating, I start to think, "You don't deserve her, boy!" I can't wait until he gets over that impulse and starts being honest about wanting to spend time with her. Jeez, Ren, even if you don't want to confess the depth of your feelings, at least tell her you want to be friends!**


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

 **Author's Note:**  
 _ **Skip Beat!**_ **and its characters belong to the creator Nakamura Yoshiki.**

 _ **Skip Beat!**_ **is serialised in 'Hana to Yume' magazine (Hakusensha) and licensed in English by 'Shojo Beat' (VIZ Media, LLC).**

 **The work below is written in the spirit of fan appreciation.**  
 **UK English has been used throughout.**

* * *

Ren stood in a hallway at LME trying to keep a goofy smile off his face as he thought of his conversation with Kyouko the night before. He made himself a cup of coffee at a vending machine as he tried to get his face in order.

"Tsuruga-san, my apologies for bothering you. Do you have a moment?"

Ren suppressed a jump and looked at the woman who had hailed him. She was someone who he had been meaning to talk to anyway: the lady who had been Fuwa's manager, and who now seemed to be associated with the LoveMe section. "Of course." He nodded at the vending machine. "Would you like a cup, ah ...?"

"Aki Shouko. Pardon my manners. No, thank you, I just had a tea."

Ren took his cup from the machine and led Aki-san to a seating area tucked under a flight of stairs. There were a few informal meeting areas scattered around LME to facilitate cross-genre and cross-group interactions. Aki-san folded her hands neatly in her lap.

"What can I do for you, Aki-san?" he asked.

"I thought I should introduce myself and my new role in LME. I don't know if you remember me from Karuizawa, but I, ah ..."

"You were Fuwa's manager, right?"

She froze and looked at him with wide eyes. Had he slipped and showed his dislike on his face? "Ah, yes, I was," she said after a moment. "But we had a falling out, and now I've been hired to help with the LoveMe section."

A falling out could mean many things, none of them nice. Ren decided not to pry in case it was a painful topic. "I'm not in the LoveMe section, though."

He startled a laugh out of her, possibly at the thought of him in a pink jumpsuit. She covered her mouth as if she had been caught unawares. "Oh, gosh, no I didn't mean ... Um. You see, the president told me that you've been looking out for Kyouko-chan over the last year and a bit, taking her under your wing in the acting world, so to speak."

"I guess I have," he said. "After all, her first appearance in a drama was in _Dark Moon_." He suddenly found himself standing on thin ice. Was Aki-san trying to figure out how close he and Kyouko were? And if so, how much could he say without crossing the line of what Kyouko would want him to say? Would she want people knowing that she'd had dinner at his place a few times, for example, or was that a secret in her mind? Since _Tragic Marker_ was long finished, had Aki-san been told the details or was she not considered to be someone who needed to know?

"OK, I kind of got that impression when I was working with Shou. He was always convinced there was even more than that going on, and he used to get quite angry whenever he was reminded that the two of you worked together. You should have seen his face after he saw your joint interview at the _Dark Moon_ wrap party." She laughed, but it was a hollow sound.

He sat further forward in his chair. "I'm not doing anything indecent with her, I assure you."

Aki-san held up her hands to ward off his words. "I'm not asking for details like that, and I'm not here to judge. Shou's opinion is also now irrelevant to me."

"Then what are you interested in hearing from me?"

Aki-san straightened her shoulders. "While explaining my duties to me, the president perhaps mentioned that you have feelings for Kyouko-chan."

Ren felt his face freeze. It was the only way he could have retained his smile. "Did he? Why would he have done that?"

"To tell you the truth, it wasn't that surprising to me."

 _Another one?_ thought Ren. _How obvious am I?_

"Anyway," continued Aki-san, "he told me that if I ever see you making advances on her, I should back off and let you do so, even though under normal circumstances a manager would stop someone from pursuing a young actress like that."

"Oh, did he?"

Aki-san looked briefly amused, then schooled her face. "He told me not to set anything up or encourage you, either, so don't worry, I won't meddle. Oh, and he told me not to tell Kyouko-chan about your feelings. I just thought you should know what I've been told and what I'm aware of."

"What is that guy thinking? LME isn't his personal otome game."

Aki-san snorted. "Otome game. That's it in a nutshell. I was trying to think of what that particular conversation with him had felt like." She stood, smoothed her skirt, and bowed. "Thank you for your time, Tsuruga-san. I'm sorry if I held you up."

He stood and bowed as well. "Not at all. Thank you for being honest with me."

He sat back down and nursed his coffee while he waited for Yashiro-san. While he did so, he ran his free hand over his hair. _Why do I feel more and more like a fly caught in a spider's web? Just what is the boss up to now?_

* * *

"Oooh!" Kyouko scrolled down the page. "Oh, there's me!" The Tumblr post included a picture of her from Monday morning wearing the dress her friends had given her, plus her name and the shop the dress had come from. "You're a fantastic photographer, Mouko-san! You even made me look fashionable!"

"You looked nice on Monday anyway. It wasn't just the photography, you know."

Kyouko coloured and grinned at her friend. "Thank you! It's all due to the dress!"

"Mou, stop that! Take the damned compliment!"

"Eheh, thank you."

They were in the office of Yamamoto-san, the online media manager, waiting for their debrief to begin. Chiori-san arrived while they scrolled through Kanae-san's Tumblr feed.

"Sorry I'm late," she said.

"Not at all," said Yamamoto-san. "The meeting hasn't begun yet. But since we're all here now, shall we begin?"

Chiori-san dragged a chair over so she could join the huddle around the computer. They looked at Kanae-san's photos, and Yamamoto-san showed them how many likes, reblogs, and followers the Tumblr account had accrued.

"Only two followers, five reblogs, and fifteen likes, huh," said Kanae-san.

"When did you post the first picture?" asked Yamamoto-san.

"Monday evening."

"What? That's less than 48 hours, and with only three posts. You're doing really well, Kotonami-san!"

"Really?" She looked surprised.

"Absolutely. Social media accounts build in popularity exponentially, not linearly. This is a great start. Well done. Keep it up!"

Kyouko applauded.

"Stop that, baka," said Kanae-san as she grabbed Kyouko's wrists to stop her from clapping.

Next they looked at Chiori-san's Twitter account. "This is a good start, Amamiya-san. You're posting regularly. That's great."

"I don't have any followers yet, though."

"Twitter is different to Tumblr. With Tumblr, Kotonami-san can tag her posts, and people searching for those tags will find her posts. Twitter relies on connections between accounts. How many Twitter accounts are you following?"

Chiori-san cleared her throat. "Um, I haven't got around to doing that part yet."

"Well, you need to."

"I can't think of anyone I want to follow. None of my friends have Twitter."

"But since this is an LME account, think of it more like a business networking thing. Follow the accounts of celebrities, even if you don't know them personally. You'll learn about how other people in the business use Twitter, and maybe some of them will follow you and even retweet your tweets. That's how you'll get followers."

"It all sounds fake. What's even the point?"

"The point is visibility."

"And achieving the goal," added Kanae-san.

"I'll try my best," said Chiori-san. She had a look on her face that seemed to say she found the whole thing distasteful.

"Let's move on. The first of your videos went up this morning, Kyouko-san. Shall we take a look?"

"Um, OK."

"I've been waiting to see this," said Chiori-san.

Yamamoto-san brought up the YouTube page. The channel had been called 'Celebrities in the Kitchen', in English. Kyouko knew enough English to know that the title was very plain in that language, but to Japanese viewers, of course, it sounded fresh. And it could be shortened to something catchy like CelebKitchen.

Yamamoto-san started the video. It began with a brief ad for the Nebunohana restaurant. The reminder of that place made Kyouko feel nauseated again. The phone call she'd had the night before with Tsuruga-san had been possibly her most awkward phone conversation ever, and considering her track record, that was really saying something. In the end, he hadn't dismissed the idea out of hand. Kyouko couldn't figure out if that was a good thing or a bad thing. On the one hand, he hadn't rejected her, but on the other she now had to go through with it. He had offered to get the booking for them since his calendar was trickier to manage than hers. At some point, she would be getting a call from him to say they were going out to dinner, and she had absolutely no idea when that call would come. The lack of a schedule made the whole thing twice as nerve-wracking as it would have been otherwise.

She shook her head to dispel the thoughts. She was working! She had to stop mooning over him!

The main part of the video began. Kyouko cringed as soon as she saw her own dorky face and heard her surprisingly high voice. "This is awful!" she said.

"Shh, stop that. You have to get used to seeing yourself on film, Kyouko!" said Kanae-san. "It's an occupational necessity."

They watched the 15-minute video mostly in silence. When it finished with another sponsorship message for the Nebunohana restaurant, Kyouko slumped back in her chair. "This is on the internet? People can see it? I'm so embarrassed!"

"Why, Kyouko-san?" asked Chiori-san. "That was great!"

"But I'm all authoritative. 'Do this, do that'."

"That's what you're supposed to do for this type of video, surely," said Kanae-san. "It's fine as it is, I think."

"Listen to your friends, Kyouko-san. They're right. You did a good job. Now all you need to do is keep going."

"Maria-chan did a fantastic job," said Kyouko. "I wish she was here to see this."

"Well, I think she's probably at school, right?"

"I have a question, Yamamoto-san."

"Sure, go ahead."

"Mouko-san and Chiori-san have been doing their Tumblr and Twitter things on their phones. Is there anything I can do on my phone when I'm out and about that can help my channel?"

"That's a really good question. May I borrow your phone for a moment?"

Yamamoto-san showed Kyouko how to sign in and out of YouTube on her phone and how to check the comments and reply if she felt it was necessary. She also gave her advice on not responding to negative comments in case there were any.

"Will there be negative comments?" asked Kyouko. "I'm used to bearing that sort of thing, but I wouldn't want Maria-chan to see her hard work insulted."

"Hm, to be honest with you Kyouko-san, yes there is likely to be some negative comments. Some may be valid, because everyone has different tastes, and that's OK. But also there are a lot of sad, angry people out there who enjoy saying mean things on the internet to make themselves feel better. I don't really get why. Please come to me if you feel uncomfortable about any negative comments you receive, and don't engage with the commenter. That goes for all of you. Please let me help you in that circumstance."

All three LoveMe girls nodded.

Someone knocked on the door, and Yamamoto-san answered it and stepped aside to allow Shouko-san and the president to enter the office. Kyouko stood and bowed, and her friends followed suit.

"How are you going, girls?" asked the president. "Having fun with the assignment? Well, I know you are, Mogami-kun. Maria has been telling me about the filming all week."

Kyouko gave the president a wan smile and a nod.

"What's with that lacklustre response, Mogami-kun?" He waved a red piece of fabric, a part of the matador outfit he was wearing for a second day in a row. "Come on; be energetic."

 _Does he want me to charge at him?_ "It's nothing to worry about; I've only just seen the video up online for the first time. It's nerve-wracking, like seeing myself on TV for the first time all over again."

The president nodded. "I understand, but please try to enjoy it. I've seen the video and it's very good, I assure you. I know it was only posted this morning, but I'm sure you'll get a fantastic response." He turned to Kanae-san. "Your Tumblr blog is doing very well, too, Kotonami-kun. I'd like to see you interacting with more people online, though."

"How? On Tumblr, if you repost stuff, it ends up on your own blog in between your own pictures."

"Use the little heart thingies! Show other people how much you love what they do!" He held his arms open in a dramatic gesture. "Share the love around."

Kyouko could tell that her best friend was annoyed, but all Kanae-san said was, "I'll do my best."

"Amamiya-kun, I've been looking at your Twitter posts. I like the kinds of posts you've been making. But I can't help but notice that you've only posted things said by people you know or people you could conveniently eavesdrop on while going about your daily tasks. I want you to use this opportunity to get to know more people at LME. Talk to more people and get a wider variety of quotes. You haven't posted anything by anyone from the music section yet."

"Pardon me, sir, but how can you tell? I don't identify anyone."

"You can't fool me, Amamiya-kun. I know everyone here."

"But it's a sneaky Twitter account. It's not as if I can walk up to people and ask, like Kanae-san can when taking photos."

"The posts can be staged, or you could just talk to people for other reasons. Feel free to tell people what you are doing, so you are not seen as being 'sneaky'."

"Oh!" said Kyouko. "If you need to talk to someone in the music section, I can help. I work with the Bridge Rock onii-sans. I think they're going to be in the office today. I could introduce you."

Chiori-san's eyebrows shot up. "You know Bridge Rock? As in, the band?"

Kyouko nodded enthusiastically. "Yep!"

"How? You don't have anything to do with the music section."

"Oh, ah, it's because of a LoveMe job that I do."

Kanae-san snorted, but looked away when Kyouko shot her a quick glare.

"Anyway," continued Kyouko, "they're really nice, all three of them. We could tell them about your task. I'm sure they would introduce you to even more people."

"Excellent idea, Mogami-kun!" said the president. "Well done. I'll leave you all to it. Please let me know if you have any problems." He tipped his hat to them and stalked out of the office.

"As if we'd take our troubles directly to him," said Kanae-san. "Is he aware he's the president of the entire company and ought to be very busy?"

"He's a meddler extraordinaire," said Kyouko. "He always has time to meddle."

Shouko-san stepped forward from where she had been waiting against the wall. "After you've finished here, would you three girls come to the LoveMe room? I want to make a list of all the contacts and opportunities that you can think of that you may have. I'd like to start looking for new opportunities for you, and it would help to know who in the business already knows your names." They must have looked surprised or daunted because she smiled. "I'll help prompt you, and it doesn't matter if the list isn't exhaustive at this point, because I just need a place to start."

"That's a great idea, Aki-san," said Kanae-san. "Thank you."

"Just doing my job."

Kyouko grinned. She had a feeling that having someone look out for their careers directly would be the beginning of great things.

* * *

OverheardAtLME 4 min  
"Use the little heart thingies. Share the love around!"

XXXXXXX 2 min  
.OverheardAtLME Would someone at LME really say something this dorky?

OverhearAtLME 1 min  
.XXXXXXX You'd be surprised (^▽^)

* * *

 **Next time: Just how awkward can Kyouko be if she has to go to a meeting with Ren?**

* * *

 **I'm getting to the part of the story where it's really starting to piss me off that I can't use an 'at' mark on this website. Please just imagine that the second two tweets are 'at' replies ...**

 **It's been about a month now, so I may need to remind you … the conversation Shouko had with Ren is nearly word-for-word what she said to Kyouko a few days earlier. How far do Lory's schemes go?**

 **I'm flying to Sydney tomorrow! We'll visit my sister-in-law and her new baby. Exciting! I wonder if I'll be able to write on the plane. I wonder if I'll ever get to the filming of the drama …. Actually, I'm almost there. Whew!**


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

 **Author's Note:**  
 _ **Skip Beat!**_ **and its characters belong to the creator Nakamura Yoshiki.**

 _ **Skip Beat!**_ **is serialised in 'Hana to Yume' magazine (Hakusensha) and licensed in English by 'Shojo Beat' (VIZ Media, LLC).**

 **The work below is written in the spirit of fan appreciation.**  
 **UK English has been used throughout.**

* * *

Ren looked at the beet-red girl before him and tried not to grin. She stood with her hands clasped tightly together and her back straight. She bent suddenly into a crisp, low bow.

"Good evening, Tsuruga-sempai. It is a pleasure to see you this evening."

He raised his eyebrows. Even though she had asked him out to dinner the night before, she was this formal today? Did she really have no interest in dining with him other than as a work commitment? But that blush ... she was clearly affected. Was it possible that her formality was hiding her true thoughts? Or was he just trying to fool himself again? _I won't slip, I won't._

He smiled. "Good evening, Mogami-san. Shall we go in?" He held his hand out to the meeting room.

She froze and looked at him with wide eyes. He sighed and stepped ahead of her. As he passed, she seemed to mutter, "Why is he angry?" but Ren wondered if he misheard, because he hadn't done anything to make her think he was angry. Had he?

Inside the meeting room, Mifune-kantoku was already chatting with Yashiro-san and Aki-san, who had apparently been brought in on the secret now that she was managing Kyouko. Ren hoped that Fuwa's ex-manager was trustworthy enough for this. She'd only been working at LME for a few days, after all. But he supposed that she wouldn't be able to manage Kyouko effectively if she didn't know the full extent and nature of her duties.

"Good evening, Tsuruga-san, Kyouko-san," said the director. "Please take a seat."

Ren bowed and greeted the director, as did Kyouko.

Once they were all seated, the director handed a booklet each to Ren and Kyouko. "I've asked you here today so that we can discuss your special schedules for the on-location filming days next week. All of your extra scenes are included in that script, plus their context so that you can see how they fit into the episodes."

Ren flicked through the booklet. It seemed they would be filming scenes from the first five episodes. All the scenes would take place in two locations: a convenience store where Kyouko's character Tomoe works, and the beach.

"What we're hoping to do," said the director, "is film the scenes that would give away the twist as soon as possible, before any of your fans find out we're filming at Zushi and start staking out the set. We intend to film as many of the convenience store scenes as possible next Wednesday evening after everyone else has left for the day, and as many of the beach scenes in that booklet as possible on Thursday morning before everyone else arrives again. It will mean a very late night, followed by a very early morning. Will that be OK?"

Ren nodded. "It's OK with me. I can do that."

They all looked to Kyouko. "I can do it, too," she said. She had a determined look about her.

"Thank you for your cooperation," said the director. "I have made allowances in the second week to mop up any scenes that we aren't able to do, but I'd like to get the few kisses the two characters share in the can as soon as possible, since a single cellphone picture taken by a curious bystander could give the game away."

Ren immediately imagined kissing Kyouko. _Don't grin, you idiot!_ he thought.

He glanced at Kyouko. She had gone somewhat pale.

"Pardon me?" she said. "All of the kissing scenes? Right away?"

"Except for the first one, funnily enough, which we will need a different location for. But other than that, yes."

"All at once?" she said.

The director gave her a concerned look. "Do you think you will be able to do it? Let me know if you have any concerns. Oh! Of course. You haven't filmed a kissing scene before, have you?"

She shook her head. "No, but I can do it, I'm sure. I was just a bit surprised that we'll be filming so many of that kind of scene right away." She glanced at everyone but Ren. "But forewarned is forearmed." She saluted. "I will be ready next week, I assure you!"

"That's the spirit. We'll have time for several takes on the day, so don't worry too much. We'll spend the time to get it right."

 _Don't grin, don't grin, don't grin._

Ren realised that he'd been quiet for too long. "If you need any advice, Mogami-san, please feel free to ask me." _Wait, does that sound creepy?_

But she smiled in his general direction. "Thank you, sempai."

 _Of course, I'm just a sempai._

They spent the next ten minutes or so discussing the details of the schedule and the accommodation for the night, before moving on to the production in general.

"I want to make sure that I'm clear about something," said Mifune-kantoku while he brushed his hair out of his face. "This concerns you in particular, Tsuruga-san. You don't need to go so far as to block out the whole of the filming run of _Aozora no Yume_ to protect the secret of the twist. Your characters will only be appearing regularly in the first five episodes. After that, there will be long stretches of time when we won't need you on set very often, followed by a longer appearance for the last episode. In weeks six to eleven, we will only need you for brief scenes, and we can easily tweak the schedule to fit you in around other work commitments. So please go ahead and pursue other opportunities that will film within that time, for example guest appearances on other dramas." He nodded to the two managers. "I'm sure your managers will be pleased to hear that they have more of your time to schedule."

"Yes, indeed," said Aki-san. "I'd like to get Kyouko-san out to some auditions. Thank you very much for the clarification."

Kyouko's face lit up at the mention of auditions. Ren's heart squeezed at the sight of her infectious enthusiasm.

"Well, I think that's all for today," said the director. "Thank you for coming. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns."

A minute later, they stood in the hallway watching the director stride away, his long houndstooth coat flaring behind him.

Kyouko bit her lip and glanced up at Ren several times.

"Do you have a question, Mogami-san?" he asked.

She looked at the two managers and blushed. Neither looked like they wanted to step away and give them the privacy Kyouko wanted. Yashiro-san looked like he was fighting one of his ridiculous excited faces. Kyouko squared her shoulders.

"I'm sorry to bother you, Tsuruga-san, but do you have any advice on how I could prepare for th-those scenes?" she asked in a quiet voice.

He took a moment to fight the grin that _still_ wanted to appear on his face. Her awkwardness was almost at a comedic level. "You mean the _kissing_ scenes?"

Her face nearly burst into flames. She nodded, not meeting his gaze.

"Didn't you learn anything about kissing scenes at the acting school?"

"They did cover it, but I was filming for _Dark Moon_ that day and couldn't go."

"That's quite an interesting problem you have there, Mogami-san. Too successful doing the thing to learn how to do the thing."

She giggled, although he wasn't sure if it was his joke or her nervousness that set her off.

"I have a tip for you. Lots of people practice kissing on the backs of their own hands. Why don't you try that? You could film yourself with your cellphone to see how you're doing. That way, you can make all the embarrassing mistakes in private and no one will be the wiser. But whatever you do, delete the videos after you've used them to learn. You don't want anyone else seeing them."

She laughed at the thought, but then her face fell. "I can't do that. I have YouTube set up on my phone for the LoveMe job. I would be terrified that I would accidentally upload the videos to YouTube."

He chortled, and Yashiro-san snorted. Yes, he was blatantly listening to their conversation.

"That's a valid concern, Mogami-san. I have a camera that I don't use anymore because my cellphone is actually better. I'll drop it off in the LoveMe section tomorrow morning and you can pick it up next time you're at the office. How's that? You can't accidentally upload from an old-school digital camera."

"Oh, I couldn't …"

"Yes, you can. I haven't used it in years. It'll be good to have someone put it to use for once."

She bowed. "Thank you very much, Tsuruga-san."

"No problem. Oh, about the dinner. I'm still not sure when I will be free and can get a booking." He looked over at Yashiro-san, who gave him an apologetic look. Yashiro-san was trying to confirm his schedule, but he had a couple of shoots that were on a sliding timeframe, which made things difficult.

Kyouko held up her hands. "That's quite all right, Tsuruga-san. There's no urgency. Whenever is convenient for you." Her face had turned red again. "Thank you for the advice. I should let you go now. I'm holding you up. My apologies." She bowed. "Good evening."

Aki-san also bowed, and then the two women left. Ren felt a pang of sadness. Now that Aki-san was looking after the LoveMe section, he couldn't offer Kyouko a ride home, because she already had one.

"Aw, that's quite a face you're making," said Yashiro-san. "But Aki-san is looking after the whole LoveMe section, not just Kyouko-chan. There will no doubt be schedule clashes that will allow you to offer Kyouko-chan rides home."

Ren schooled his expression. Was he really that easy to read these days? Well, actually, Yashiro-san had always been able to read him. He was probably just getting sensitive because a few people had spotted his feelings for Kyouko recently.

They started walking towards the parking garage. "You're such a fool, Ren," said Yashiro-san. "I can't believe you let that opportunity slip you by!"

"What opportunity?"

"She was asking you to teach her how to kiss! Why didn't you offer to teach her? You could have enjoyed kissing her and had the perfect excuse! 'Practice on you own hand.' What is that, even?"

"She wasn't asking me to teach her, she was asking for advice on how to prepare. Do you really think she was expecting a practical lesson? This is LoveMe no. 1 we're talking about."

"Yeah, but—"

"I'm not going to take advantage of her professional development for my own selfish reasons. Seriously, what are you suggesting, Yashiro-san? That's immoral."

"It's not immoral if you truly like her."

"Yes, it is!" He scowled at his manager. "Sometimes I really worry about your morals."

"How rude! I'm only trying to support you, Ren."

"Well, please do so in a way that doesn't involve suggesting I take advantage of her trust." _I already have enough things for which I need to apologise to her. I don't need another._

* * *

OverheardAtLME 3 h  
"We didn't hire him. We hatched him. We all took turns sitting on the egg."

XXXXXXX 2 h  
OMG, is this about Bou the chicken from Kimagure Rock? LOL

XXXXXXX 2 h  
He's clearly just a guy in a suit!

XXXXXXX 2 h  
OMG, please tell me which of the Bridge Rock hotties said this. I'm dying to know!

OverheardAtLME 1 h  
Sorry, I was sworn to secrecy (^ω~)

* * *

 **Next time: Ren makes a rare slip in an interview.**


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

 **Author's Note:**  
 _ **Skip Beat!**_ **and its characters belong to the creator Nakamura Yoshiki.**

 _ **Skip Beat!**_ **is serialised in 'Hana to Yume' magazine (Hakusensha) and licensed in English by 'Shojo Beat' (VIZ Media, LLC).**

 **The work below is written in the spirit of fan appreciation.**  
 **UK English has been used throughout.**

* * *

Naomi waved to the studio audience as she walked onto the set. She wasn't sure if the audience was cheering louder for her or for the tall man who walked behind her: her soon-to-be co-star, Tsuruga Ren. They both took seats on the couch, Naomi sitting closer to the host than Tsuruga-san as she would be playing the main character.

"Welcome, Naomi-san, welcome Tsuruga-san!"

"Thank you, Yuu-san, it's great to be here," said Naomi.

"Indeed," said Tsuruga-san. "Thank you to the studio audience for the warm reception."

The audience cheered again. The cheer was quite loud. Perhaps he was getting more cheers than her after all.

"It's just been announced that you two have been cast in a new drama called _Aozora no Yume,_ is that correct?"

"Yes, that's right," said Naomi.

"And you'll play the lead, Naomi-san?"

"That's right. My character is called Takamatsu Rina. She's a strong young woman who returns to her hometown after a bad breakup, not sure of who she is anymore. She finds herself through her family, friends and a new business that she puts her heart and soul into."

"That sounds like an inspiring story! And Ren-san — may I call you Ren? — you're playing the love interest, surely."

"I'll be playing a character called Ooshima Kazufumi."

The host gave him a winning smile. Of course. "Can you tell us anything about your character, Ren-san?"

"I think you'll find that he's a bit different from the characters I usually play. A different look, although I don't want to spoil anything. And for once I'll be playing a character who is about my own age, which is quite rare for me."

"Oh, of course!" said Yuu-san. "I tend to forget how young you actually are because you're usually playing something like a detective or a school teacher. But you're practically jailbait, aren't you?"

He laughed what sounded like a natural laugh, although surely he must have felt uncomfortable about the woman's comment. The audience certainly felt a little awkward. There was a lot of nervous giggling going on. Naomi looked at him out the corner of her eye. He had a perfectly pleasant look on his face. He was good.

After a pause to see if Tsuruga-san would reply to her comment with any interesting remarks, Yuu-san moved on to the next question. "So, what can you tell me about the type of drama we will be seeing on our screens from summer onwards?"

Naomi glanced at Tsuruga-san to see if he was about to speak. In her experience, men usually wanted to speak first even if she was the main character, and she didn't want to suffer the indignity of being talked over. But he was looking at her, waiting for her reply. _Ugh, that was bad. I bet that just looked like I went to him for approval to speak first._

"I think you can expect some twists and turns," said Naomi. "Mifune-kantoku is a very experimental director. He hasn't given us the scripts for the whole series, just the first few episodes, so I think we can expect that he's playing with form and he will deconstruct the drama genre to a certain extent and find new ways of telling stories."

"He's also a very visual director," added Tsuruga-san. "All directors are, of course, but Mifune-kantoku's other work has shown that he has a rare talent for colour and light. I think we can expect that the drama will look amazing and set the bar higher for domestic TV productions."

 _What an interesting way to answer the question,_ thought Naomi. _This guy really is a professional._

They were asked more questions, both about the drama and other projects that they had been in. Yuu-san asked Naomi when she would make her big movie break, to which she answered, "I'm ready any time someone wants to give me an offer I can't refuse."

Yuu-san asked Tsuruga-san about the gap after he finished filming _Dark Moon_. "Did you take personal time off? Perhaps with a ... lady friend?"

He smiled. "No time off for me, alas. I was giving my modelling work some extra attention."

"That wouldn't have taken all that time, surely?"

He paused for a split-second, or perhaps Naomi only imagined it. "I was also working on a long-term project."

"Oh? What project?"

"I'm sorry, I can't give you any more details at this time."

"How intriguing! Will you come back to the show when you can talk about it?"

"Have your people call my people and we can arrange that, I'm sure." He delivered the line with just the right amount of lightness to bring a laugh out of the audience.

"How will I know when it's time to call you back to the show? Can't you give us a few hints? Or even just one?"

"You'll know; trust me."

* * *

After the interview finished, they walked through the dark backstage area back to the green room. "Good job, Tsuruga-san," said Naomi.

"You too, Naomi-san. I think that interview went well."

Naomi eyed the tall man walking beside her. _What a profile!_ "Uh, so, what is the secret project?" she asked to hide the fact that she'd been staring.

"Sorry; I can't say."

"Aw, come on. I won't tell anyone." She grinned at him.

He stopped just before entering the green room. "I'm sorry. I really can't."

"How about I guess? Is it a documentary series? People hired to go to various locations for documentaries can take a long time to finish the project."

"Really, I can't. I'm sorry." He inclined his head then held the door open for her.

When she entered the green room, Endou-san held out a bottle of tea to her. "Good job," he said.

"Thanks." She took a sip of the tea then motioned at the monitor that was still showing the rest of the talk show. Three young girls, a pop-rock band, were being interviewed. The poor dears looked well out of their depth. They'd soon learn. "I remember my first interview being more like that."

Endou-san snorted. "You're remembering it with rose-tinted glasses."

Naomi laughed. She turned back to Tsuruga-san, who was having a quiet word with his own manager in the corner. "Are you looking forward to the start of filming, Tsuruga-san?" she asked when his conversation ended.

"Yes, absolutely. I have all the lines memorised already and I'm keen to perform them."

Naomi didn't realise until she received that reply that she'd been hoping for an, 'I'm looking forward to working with you.' She plastered a grin on her face. "Yes, me too."

"Oh, by the way," he added, "thank you for helping out with Fuwa and the girls the other day."

She held the smile in place. "Those thanks are on behalf of ...?"

"On behalf of LME, of course."

 _Of course._

"It was no trouble."

* * *

Half an hour later Naomi slouched in the back of Endou-san's car.

"Stop brooding," he said. "What if one of your fans saw you?"

"I'm not brooding."

"Yes, you are. You're just going to have to be a professional and get over it."

She frowned at him in the rear-view mirror. "Get over what?"

"Your crush."

"I don't have a crush."

"Could have fooled me," he snipped.

Naomi sat forward and looked at Endou-san in profile. He'd never snipped at her like that before. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing."

"Yes, there is. Why are you in a bad mood?"

He sighed and looked at her while they were stopped at a red light. "You're usually very professional with everyone you work with, but you're showing signs of letting that professionalism slip around Tsuruga Ren. You keep staring and paying attention to him when you should be concentrating on work."

"I need to establish a good working relationship with him for the sake of the drama. You know this. It's never bothered you before."

"I do know that. But I also heard you saying to your friend on the phone that you think he's interested in one of the other actresses cast in the drama. I don't want to deal with a real-life love drama on set."

"You won't have to! Please, Endou-san, this is super embarrassing."

He sighed as the car behind them honked to let them know the light had gone green. Once the car was moving again, he said, "I'm sorry about that. I was just concerned."

"I understand," she said, although she still sat with her arms crossed. Her feelings weren't Endou-san's business, only her career. "By the way, have you ever heard rumours that an actress had caught Tsuruga-san's eye?"

He thought for a moment. "Not credible ones. Why?"

"I asked around, and no one else seemed to think he had shown interest in anyone, either. Maybe I wasn't asking the right people."

"You shouldn't have been asking around at all. Besides, maybe you noticed because you were staring so much."

She glared at him in the mirror again, but he didn't notice. "They greeted each other so formally on Monday that I was sure I was wrong. I felt embarrassed that I'd told Fumie-chan something that possibly wasn't true. But the way he thanked me for helping her on Monday makes me think I was right again. He said 'girls', but he really meant her, right?"

"I don't know, and I don't want to spend time surmising. I suggest you leave it alone, too. It's not our business."

"Yeah, it's not. You're right." Naomi sighed. It was all for the best, anyway. She'd so proudly told all her friends that she wanted to focus on her career, not men. No doubt she would be on the receiving end of a lot of teasing if she did let herself fall for someone.

* * *

Ren clenched his teeth as he drove.

"It'll be fine," said Yashiro-san. "Don't worry. You didn't give anything away."

"But I mentioned the project obliquely. Now people will be hunting for clues. I really messed up."

"You didn't, really. And Konoe-kantoku's assistant assured me he'll call you as soon as he's able. You can apologise until your face turns blue if it makes you feel any better."

Ren sighed. He'd really screwed up in the interview. 'Long-term project'? All he could do was hope that other people would come to the same conclusion that Naomi-san had and think that he was involved in a documentary or something. That's what he had been hoping to imply in the split-second he'd had to come up with a plausible explanation for his apparent low workload over the first part of the year. _I'd been hoping that no one would ask me a question phrased quite like that. I was so sure the modelling excuse would work!_

Soon afterwards, Ren's phone rang. He pulled over and answered. "Moshi-moshi, this is Tsuruga."

- _This is Konoe. I heard you needed to talk to me?-_

"Yes, sir. To be perfectly honest with you, I just did an interview, and I was asked a question which made me refer very obliquely to _Tragic Marker_."

The director was quiet for a moment. _-Please relay how the question and answer went.-_

Ren did so, as best as he could remember, then held his breath.

 _-Hm, I think it's OK.-_

"Really?"

 _-Yes. That sounds to me like you inferred the job you were doing was quite unlike a movie, so I don't think anyone will guess. And actually, it might be good to have your fans wondering about what you were doing. It will build suspense for the eventual reveal and hopefully make it a bigger story in the end.-_

"I'm so glad you think that, director. I thought I had messed up your plans."

 _-No, no, not at all, Tsuruga-san. Don't worry about that. If anyone has done that, it's me.-_

Ren's eyebrows rose. "Oh?"

 _-Well, you know. That new drama that you and Kyouko-san and Murasame-san have all been cast in. That was my fault. You aren't having problems with Murasame-san, are you?-_

"No, not at all. It's Cain who doesn't like him. Personally, I'm quite impressed with his ability and commitment."

 _-Ah, OK. That's good. Anyway, to be perfectly honest with you, I showed Ryou-kun, I mean Mifune-kantoku, a few behind the scenes videos from the set and he decided that Heel-san and Setsuka-san, I mean you and Kyouko-san, would be perfect for a couple of roles in his new drama. And Murasame-san caught his eye in that video too.-_

 _So that's how that happened,_ thought Ren. _I didn't realise there were behind-the-scenes videos, but it makes sense to keep footage to go with the reveal after the movie premiere._

 _"_ If that's the case, director, thank you very much for promoting me and my kouhai to another director and winning us new roles."

 _-No problem at all. How is Kyouko-san, by the way?-_

"She's doing well. Come to think of it, you still haven't met her when she isn't dressed up as Setsu, have you?"

- _No. I think it's best if I don't meet either of you until after the reveal, just in case. Please send her my regards and my thanks for all her efforts.-_

 _"_ I will."

They bade each other farewell, and then Ren sighed and slumped back in his seat.

"That seemed to go well," said Yashiro-san.

"Yeah, he isn't angry. He thinks it may even help drum up anticipation that with help with the reveal."

"That's great. See? Everything's fine. You should have believed me. You're such a worry wart."

 _I know. That's the root of almost all my problems._

* * *

OverheardAtLME 3 min  
"No, you don't understand. There must be four wolves or it won't fit the theme."

* * *

 **Next time: Camera exchanges, phone calls, and luxury goods.**

* * *

 **I'd like to say how thankful I am for all the reviews I receive. I don't often have time to reply because I usually see the comments only on my phone while I'm at work or out and about, but I always get warm fuzzies and feel like I want to write more, so thank you :)**


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

 **Author's Note:**  
 _ **Skip Beat!**_ **and its characters belong to the creator Nakamura Yoshiki.**

 _ **Skip Beat!**_ **is serialised in 'Hana to Yume' magazine (Hakusensha) and licensed in English by 'Shojo Beat' (VIZ Media, LLC).**

 **The work below is written in the spirit of fan appreciation.**  
 **UK English has been used throughout.**

* * *

Kyouko went to school on the Friday. Unfortunately, she had difficulty focussing on her lessons because she was too busy hiding the alternating grins and grimaces that wanted to cross her face. _Oh my God, I'll get to kiss him next week. Oh my God, I have to kiss him next week! Oh my God, I may have to go to dinner with him while anticipating kissing him. Oh my God, I may have to go to dinner with him_ after _having kissed him!_ Round and round went her thoughts. Her distress must have leaked somewhat because her classmates gave her weird looks and avoided her during lunch and between classes.

Eventually the bell rang for the end of day. She packed away her half-finished notes and then helped to clean the classroom as she was on duty that week. Still no one talked to her. She looked wistfully at the groups of students chatting and laughing together as they prepared for their after-school clubs or, in the case of her own class, rushed off to evening talent jobs. _This is OK,_ she told herself. _I have my friends at LME. I can bear this because I've already found my place. I'm here for my High School graduate certificate, not to make friends._ Even so, a sigh escaped her.

On her way home, she dropped by LME and visited the LoveMe room. A brown paper shopping bag sat on the table with 'For Mogami Kyouko' written on the side in green felt pen. She peeked inside and found the expected camera, packed away in its original box. She pulled it out and was just about to unbox it when she noticed that the bag wasn't yet empty. There was a folded note and one other parcel wrapped in plain white paper. She eyed the door to make sure no one was watching her; it wouldn't do for anyone to witness the blush or the hopeful look that had just sprung across her face out of her control.

She unfolded the note.

 _To Mogami-san,_

 _Here's the camera as promised. I hope it will help you prepare for your role._

 _As for the other thing, I found it in the cupboard when I was looking for the camera. It's a freebie I got in a swag bag at a fashion show last year. Somehow I don't think it would suit me! If you don't want it, I guess I'll just have to throw it away or something ..._

 _Your friend,_

 _Ren_

She stared at the note for a long moment. "That manipulative man!" she muttered aloud. "No matter what it is, I can't let it be thrown away. What a waste!" She eyed the door again then cautiously opened the white parcel. It had clearly been opened before: the cellotape was holding on only tenuously. She slid the glossy paper off to reveal a box of four perfume samplers. She recognised the brand, and it wasn't a cheap one. "If he had women's perfume to give away, why didn't he give it to that girl he likes?" She ground her teeth. But actually, the pictures of the little rectangular bottles were cute. She opened the box to look at the real bottles inside. They were so tiny! She caught herself smiling at them. _They're almost small enough to be doll props!_ Then she clenched her jaw and slammed the box closed. "Manipulative man!" But she carefully slid the box back into its wrapper and stored it back in the paper bag under the camera.

* * *

Ren sat on his sofa with a rocks glass in one hand while he watched his father's new movie, which was newly out on DVD. He would study the movie for new acting tips later; this first time through he wanted to enjoy the experience. Also, he wanted to let himself get a little bit drunk since he didn't have anything scheduled for the morning (for once).

He couldn't help but roll his eyes at the movie; not at his father's performance, but at some of the ridiculous Hollywood casting choices. The actress playing the love interest was about Ren's age, and the actress playing her mother was about Kuu's age. He remembered his father ranting about that occasionally, about how as time went by he felt more and more like a dirty old cradle robber on set, which would inevitably segway into him waxing lyrical about Julie's virtues, doubly so if she was within earshot.

Without warning, a wave of homesickness hit Ren like a truck. He could smell their favourite brand of coffee, his mother's signature perfume, the leather of the TV room lounge suite. Did they still have that lounge suite, or had they bought a new one? He'd been away so long, who knew what had changed? He drained the rocks glass in one long pull. Oh, well. It seemed he would be getting more than just a little tipsy after all.

He grimaced when there was a sex scene; he really didn't want to see his own father in that sort of situation. Instead, he went to refill his glass and didn't return to the sofa until the audio track indicated the scene had changed.

He slouched on the sofa and continued to watch the movie. It had moved on from the silly huge-age-gap romance to the 'lots of explosions and punches and guns' part that was a hallmark of Kuu's movies. And martial arts, of course. That was a major part of his appeal in Hollywood: Asian, therefore martial arts. That's why Kuu had learned martial arts in the first place, and why he'd made sure Kuon could fight too. "There's nothing inherently wrong with being a typecast actor so long as you're still getting work," he'd always said, "and Hollywood always needs actors and actresses who don't need to rely on stunt doubles all the time in fight scenes."

Just as the movie reached the third act and he finished his glass for at least the third time, Ren's phone rang. He paused the movie and leaned forward to pick the phone up from the coffee table. The room swayed a little as he did so. He froze for a moment when he saw 'Mogami Kyouko' written on the screen. _Uh oh,_ he thought. _She's calling to tell me off about the perfume, and I'm drunk. Be polite and sempai-like!_

"G'evening. To what do I owe th' pleasure?" Ren surprised himself by slurring his words a little. _How much did I drink? Get it together!_

- _Good evening, this is Mogami.-_

"I know."

 _-Ah, oh, um, sorry to bother you. Is this a good time?-_

"I always have time for you."

She was quiet for a moment. _-Um, thank you sempai.-_

Ren silently mimed getting hit in the chest by an arrow. It was an accurate representation of his feelings. "Do you have a question? Is it about the drama?"

 _-Well, um, the reason I'm calling is, um, possibly you may have made a bit of a mistake and given me something you didn't mean to. I'm just calling to check.-_

Ren grinned. "We discussed the camera, didn't we? Is it not the sort of camera you were expecting?"

- _No, I mean, yes, it's fine. Thank you so much. I mean the other thing. In the bag. With the camera.-_

"Oh, that. Yeah. That was for you. I wrote a note, didn't I?"

 _-Yes, but …-_

"Please, I really don't need women's perfume. Take it off my hands." He hadn't been lying in the note: the perfume really had been a freebie that he'd found in the hall cupboard while searching for the camera.

 _-But shouldn't you give it to….-_ She fell silent.

"To whom?"

 _-N-never mind ….-_

 _Yes, that's right,_ he thought. _There's no-one else._ "So it's settled."

 _-No! No, Tsuruga-san, you can't give me perfume!-_ She actually sounded panicked.

"Is receiving a gift from me that distressing?" He slid sideways on the sofa until he was lying down and threw his free forearm over his eyes.

 _-But Tsuruga-san!-_ she wailed. _-You were the one who told me I can't accept things like this!-_

"When?"

 _-Perfume is even more intimate than clothing, surely! By your own logic, I can't accept it!-_

With the amount of alcohol he had in his system he had no hope of holding in the laugh that bubbled out of him. He buried his face in the cushion and laughed until his stomach hurt. _Kotonami-san was right to laugh at me the other week. I'm such an idiot!_

Unfortunately he'd taken the phone with him when he rolled into the cushion and she was getting an earful of his laughter. _-Oh. I see,-_ said Kyouko in an icy voice. _-This was all a practical joke. Well, I'll leave the perfumes in the LoveMe room tomorrow so you can collect them again.-_

"No, wait! It's not a practical joke." He flailed and then fell off the couch. "Ow!"

She huffed. Then the thump must have registered with her. _-Are you OK?-_

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said from his new position on the floor. "Sorry for laughing. I was laughing at myself, not you. I didn't think it through. I'm sorry."

 _-So I should return the perfume.-_

"No, no, no." His voice sounded brash, more like his real self than normal, but he couldn't seem to control it. "I mean I'm sorry for what I said that time. I was out of line. I mean, yeah, accepting stuff from men can have that sort of connotation, but it wasn't my place to lecture you. And accepting gifts doesn't mean you've consented to anything else, OK? Don't let anyone make you think that it does."

 _-I'm sure you had my wellbeing in mind.-_

"No, I had my jealousy in mind."

There was a tense silence on the line. He didn't know what she was thinking, of course, but _he_ was thinking that he might just be dead.

 _-I think I misheard you Tsuruga-san. Could you please repeat that?-_

If he had been sober he would have kept his mouth shut, but instead the words just fell out. "I wanna be the one who buys you things." He covered his eyes. What had he just done?

- _Tsuruga-san. By any chance, are you drunk?-_

He sighed. "Yes. Yes I am."

 _-I'm sorry. You're out with friends and I'm holding you up.-_

"No, I'm at home. Alone."

- _You're drinking … alone?-_

"Please don't judge me."

 _-I'm not judging you. It's just that this conversation is making a little more sense now.-_

"You're going to discount everything I've said, aren't you?"

 _-No ….-_ She didn't sound convincing. _-I didn't think you were the type to get drunk.-_

"Er, I misjudged and overshot a bit. Then you called. Now I'm on the floor. I literally fell off the sofa."

 _-I think you need to go and make yourself a coffee, Tsuruga-san.-_

"I think so too." He sat up. "But keep the perfumes, OK? I'm not expecting anything from you in return. I know you're not the kind of girl whose affection can be bought, and I respect you for that." He stood and shuffled to the kitchen, wobbling a bit as he went. "Have you tried using the camera to, you know, practice?" he asked as he filled the kettle.

She cleared her throat. _-Ah, yes,-_ she whispered.

"Did it help?"

 _-It took me ages to work up the courage to try. I felt so stupid. And then when I did, I nearly died of embarrassment watching the video. I looked ridiculous.-_

"It always looks weird. Just figure out where to put your nose and how to breathe, and the rest will come naturally." Ren grinned as he waited for the kettle to boil. He would make sure to give her a decent kiss. "Oh, and remember to tilt your head back. I'm quite a bit taller than you and so you'll need to tilt your head up when we film."

He thought perhaps that she gulped. _-O-OK.-_

"You'll be fine, you know. You're the actress who played Setsuka Heel. This will be a walk in the park. And let's be real: a standard kiss is nothing compared to a hickey. Especially that hickey. That was something else."

- _Are you not drinking coffee yet, Tsuruga-saaaaan?-_ she wailed.

"The kettle's only just boiling now!" he held the phone out to the kettle so she could hear it.

 _-I think I should leave you to your evening now,-_ she said. - _Before you say something else that will embarrass us both.-_

"I'm not embarrassed."

 _-I suspect you will be in the morning. Good night, Tsuruga-san. Thank you for the advice.-_

"Good night. Enjoy your weekend. And have fun with the camera."

 _-F-f-… go drink your coffee! Good night!-_

Ren chuckled as he made the coffee. That had been a fun conversation in the end. He returned to the sofa to watch the rest of the movie, not yet sober enough to reflect on the parts of the conversation he ought to be worried about.

* * *

OverheardAtLME 5h  
"Today's mail bag diversions contained 7 used panties, 13 nude photos, and a bag of hair clippings."  
"Could I see the—"  
"No."

XXXX 5h  
.OverheardAtLME UR a fake. UR making this up.

XXXX 5h  
.OverheardAtLME I bet you've never been anywhere near LME.

XXXX 4h  
.OverheardAtLME Attention whore

XXXXXXX 4h  
Shut up, XXXX! What makes you think this account is fake?! .OverheardAtLME

XXXX 4h  
.XXXXXXX .OverheardAtLME STFU. Like a talent agency would let one of their employees do this. Moron.

* * *

 **Next time: Kyouko and Maria film the second YouTube video.**

* * *

 **It's so much fun to free-write these dorks. I hadn't planned this chapter at all. It just happened.**

 **When I see miniature things, like perfume samplers, I can't help but think, 'Doll prop!' because I'm a doll collector (BJDs). I think Kyouko would have the same thought process, for the same reason.**


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

 **Author's Note:**  
 ** _Skip Beat!_** **and its characters belong to the creator Nakamura Yoshiki.**

 ** _Skip Beat!_** **is serialised in 'Hana to Yume' magazine (Hakusensha) and licensed in English by 'Shojo Beat' (VIZ Media, LLC).**

 **The work below is written in the spirit of fan appreciation.**  
 **UK English has been used throughout.**

* * *

"Are you all right, Onee-san?"

Kyouko jumped as her attention snapped back to the present. "Yes, yes, I'm fine Maria-chan!" She saluted. "Ready for duty!"

They were setting up for the second YouTube video. Marumii-san had asked to learn how to make a sponge cake, and Sudou-san had agreed. Kyouko was measuring out the dry ingredients into individual bowls so she wouldn't need to waste time weighing things during filming. However, she kept spacing out.

She had thought she was distracted at school the day before when she kept fretting about filming kisses and dinner plans, but that was nothing compared with being distracted by remembering talking to Silly Drunk Actor on the phone the night before. She remembered the part of the conversation when he fell off the sofa and nearly burst out laughing. Then she remembered him saying outlandish things like 'I want to be the one who buys you things,' and had to control her blush. Rinse, repeat. Even Maria-chan had noticed how off-kilter she was.

"Are you sure you're all right?"

"Yes, Maria-chan. Sorry if I'm a bit spaced out today."

"Did something happen?"

Kyouko didn't want to tell her about the call. The little girl had a huge crush on Tsuruga-san and she might jump to conclusions. "Not really," she said. "Nothing to worry about." She smiled at Maria-chan, who smiled in return and went back to adjusting the camera.

Soon afterwards, the president's assistant entered the kitchen. He was dressed in a full butler's outfit. Kyouko suddenly imagined him with red demonic eyes like a character in a certain anime. It wasn't the first time she'd had that thought. She was a bit afraid that one day she would accidentally call him 'Sebastian' to his face.

"Maruyama-sama and Sudou-sama are here," he said before holding the door wide for the two actresses.

They walked into the kitchen, their eyes wide. Behind them walked Marumii-san's manager. Marumii-san in particular seemed fully agog at her surroundings.

"Good morning! Thank you for coming," said Kyouko.

"It's like I've been invited to fairyland!" said Marumii-san.

Sudou-san bowed. "Thank you for this opportunity."

Kyouko felt slightly uncomfortable at her words. She felt more like the actresses were giving her an opportunity, not the other way around. After all, they were both further along in their careers than Kyouko was. "This is Takarada Maria," she said, "the director."

Maria-chan curtsied. "Welcome to my home."

"Wah! So cute! You're the director?" said Marumii-san as she dropped to her knees in front of Maria-chan to speak to her eye-to-eye.

Maria-chan drew herself up to her full (still diminutive) height. "Yes, I am. Thank you for coming. Please take a seat at the table. Would you like some tea?"

They all sat at the table and started preparing for the video. Even though the previous week had gone well, Maria-chan had made some improvements to her workflow. She'd drawn up a video plan with the individual parts of the video and the gist of their speaking parts summarised. It was a very professional-looking plan, or it would have been if it hadn't been drawn in sparkly purple gel pen in a school notebook.

Just as they were finishing up the discussion, Kyouko's phone rang. She jumped and pulled it out of her pocket. _Incoming call: Tsuruga-san._

"Oh, um," she said.

Maria-chan, with her typical ignorance of boundaries, peered at Kyouko's phone. "Ren-sama? You should take that call, Onee-san."

Kyouko bit her lip and vaguely gestured at the camera.

"It's OK, Onee-san. I need to check the camera again. Take the call."

Kyouko accepted the call as she walked to the far end of the kitchen. The room was so big that she didn't think she would need to leave entirely. "This is Mogami," she said.

There was a moment of silence. - _Ah, you picked up._ -

"Sorry it took me a while, sempai. I'm preparing to film the next of my YouTube videos."

- _Oh, I'm sorry. Would you like me to call you back?_ -

"No, no, it's fine. Maria-chan is double-checking the camera at the moment." The little girl was standing on a stool and minutely adjusting the camera's angle.

- _Ah, OK._ \- He fell silent again.

Despite her earlier embarrassment, Kyouko finally found the situation amusing. "So, do you have a hangover?" she asked. A grin broke out on her face.

- _No. I drank lots of water and coffee._ -

"OK. That's good. Do you, uh, do you remember our conversation from last night?"

- _Yes,_ \- he said heavily. - _I wasn't that drunk._ -

"May I ask: Is this a follow-up call after last night's conversation?"

He sighed. - _Yes._ -

"So I was right when I said you would be embarrassed in the morning?" Her grin was getting wider. Thank goodness he couldn't see her. How shameless of her to be taking so much pleasure from her sempai's uncharacteristic awkwardness! He'd probably be very angry with her if he could see her face!

- _Yes, you were right. I'm so sorry. Really, truly sorry. I was way out of line last night. I was—_ -

"It's OK, Tsuruga-san, really." Hearing profuse apologies spoken in his voice was somehow knocking her entirely out of emotional balance. Why on Earth would such a thing make her heart race?

- _No, it's not. I know there are certain topics that make you uncomfortable. Usually I try to tone it down a bit with you. I'm sorry that my filter wasn't in place last night._ -

Kyouko's face fell. _So he always speaks like that with other, older women? And normally he just treats me like a child? Ugh, this is like the_ Dark Moon _party all over again_. But there was one important difference between the _Dark Moon_ party and now: back then she hadn't figured out that she was in love with him. Back then, the realisation that he was treating her with some consideration because she was still legally a child had eased her heart somewhat, even if it also made her a bit annoyed when she realised that he mustn't hold back with all women. Now, no part of the situation relieved her. A rebellious part of her wanted him to drop the consideration around her, wanted him to treat her like a woman, not a child. Would he ever do so? Or was she now in some ever-lasting kouhai/kid sister category in his life?

"You don't need to filter all the time," she mumbled. It was as much of her thoughts as she thought she could get away with expressing.

- _Oh? But you call me a playboy whenever I put one toe over the 'business only' line, even though I'm no such thing. Or more honestly, I haven't been such a thing for some years._ -

 _For some years? Is he admitting he used to play around, but insisting he doesn't now?_ Kyouko shook her head to clear it. She didn't have time to ponder about such things. Maria-chan seemed to have finished adjusting the camera, and Sudou-san and Marumii-san were both looking at her with interest. Who knew what kinds of expressions had passed across her face while she was talking? She hadn't been filtering them, because she had felt comfortable in the knowledge that Tsuruga-san, the most important person to hide her expressions from, couldn't see her.

"Um, I have to go. We're going to start filming now."

She could have sworn that he snorted. Maybe he suspected her of changing the topic on purpose. - _OK. I'm glad to discover that you're still talking to me at least. See you on Monday_.-

"See you then. Have a nice weekend."

Kyouko put her phone on silent mode before putting it back in her pocket. She returned to the table. "Do you have any questions about the recipe before we begin filming?" she asked the guests.

"No," said Marumii-san.

"Not about the recipe ..." said Sudou-san. She seemed hesitant.

"Please let me know if you have any concerns," said Kyouko.

"It's not about the video at all," said Sudou-san. "Um, I guess this is quite rude of me, but were you just talking on the phone to Tsuruga Ren?"

Kyouko flushed. "Um, ah, yes. We're starting a new drama together on Monday."

"You're _so lucky_ that you get to work with him again. How can I get luck like that?"

Kyouko shrugged. "I didn't do anything in particular to be cast with him. Both times, I was offered the roles before I knew he'd been cast as well."

"Hm. Does he call you often on Saturday mornings?"

 _What kind of question is that? Does she like him? Is that what this is?_ "Oh, no," she replied. _No more often than any other day_ , she added to assure herself that she hadn't technically lied. But it was probably a good idea to obfuscate how often they talked on the phone. If Mouko-san and Chiori-san's reactions were anything to go by, people might get the wrong idea. "Shall we go have a look at the prep area?"

* * *

The video took longer to film than the previous week's. The sponge cake had to be in the oven for twenty minutes, during which time they filmed the interview portion of the video. Then the cake had to cool down before they could decorate it with whipped cream and sliced fruit.

"Oooh, oooh, can I make a face? A really, super cute one?" asked Marumii-san.

Kyouko forced down her instinct to roll her eyes. It would do her popularity no good to be caught disparaging another talent on camera in any way. "Of course, Marumii-san. That's a great idea!" she said.

Sudou-san and Kyouko stepped back and let Marumii-san decorate the cake with fruit. She hummed as she worked.

"There are countless ways of decorating a sponge cake," said Kyouko to the camera. "Instead of fruit, you could use chocolate flakes, sweets, coconut, matcha powder, or for something decadent, food-grade gold spray. Let your creativity run free." _Ugh, I sound like such a dork,_ she thought.

They finished the video with tea and cake. They _had_ to eat two slices each to make sure they had a good take. Or at least, that's what they all told each other they had to do.

Before long, Marumii-san and Sudou-san had left. Kyouko and Maria-chan were tidying the kitchen when Kyouko's phone buzzed in her pocket. She yelped, and her heart thudded as she wondered if Tsuruga-san was calling her again. She whipped the phone out and answered. "Moshi-moshi, this is Mogami."

- _Kyouko-san, I need your advice._ -

"Chiori-san?" Kyouko blinked. Her fellow LoveMe member called her even less often than Kanae-san. "How can I help?"

Chiori-san took a moment to read out some of the nasty messages she had received on Twitter. - _I've had more of them today, always accusing me of being a fake. Please don't get me wrong! This isn't a sob story. I'm not crying or anything._ -

"I know you well enough that the thought never crossed my mind, Chiori-san. You're angry not upset, right?"

- _Damn right, I am!_ -

"Just, have you, you know, retaliated in kind?"

Chiori-san snorted. - _I wish. No, I haven't. That's why I'm ringing. I'm this close to Tweeting abuse back at them, Kyouko-san._ -

"Don't do it! Talk to Yamamoto-san, just like she said."

- _But Monday's ages away, and I really, really want to put them in their place. Kyouko-san, talk me out of it!_ -

"Just think of how it would affect your career if you were ever identified as the one behind the account. Just focus on that. And take deep breaths. Oh, and go out to eat something yummy. Oh, and put your phone on silent."

Chiori-san took deep breaths on the other end of the line. - _Thank you, sempai. You're the best._ -

Kyouko's cheeks coloured. She wasn't used to being called 'sempai' by anyone. It made her feel weird, because she didn't feel like she was worthy of the title. "Do you want me to come over after I've finished here? We could go get ice cream or something."

- _I don't want to bother you if you're busy._ -

"I won't be busy this afternoon. It's fine, really."

- _OK, I'd love that._ -

They made plans of where and when to meet that afternoon before ending the call. Then Kyouko continued washing the dishes that they had used for the video.

"You're getting very popular, Onee-san," said Maria-chan.

"Not really," said Kyouko.

"But you've had two phone calls just this morning."

"Yeah, but I receive phone calls from a small group of people, not from a large group. I'm not sure that counts as popular. But I am glad that I'm building such good friendships with people at LME. Quality over quantity!"

Maria-chan stopped fussing with the camera. "Do you think of Ren-sama as your friend?"

 _Perspicacious child!_ But Kyouko decided that she didn't want to lie to the girl. She didn't want to engender feelings of jealousy in her, especially as there was nothing to be jealous of, but it would be worse in the long run if Maria-chan thought that she had been deceitful. "Maybe? I've always tried to think of him as a sempai to avoid getting above myself. But he has asked me to think of him as a friend. I guess that means I'm allowed to, although I still have trouble convincing myself of that."

"He's so nice, though. He wouldn't lie about that, so if he says you're friends, then you're friends."

Kyouko couldn't see any complicated or displeased undertones in Maria-chan's expression. "You're OK with me being friends with him?"

"Of course, Onee-san! I'd want you to get along well with my future husband, after all."

"Heheheh." _Wow_.

* * *

 **Next time: It's the first day of filming for Kyouko's new drama.**

* * *

 **I was going to post this chapter last week, but life got in the way. First, I went to Wellington to attend a sci fi/fantasy convention. I had so much fun and spent time with so many friends and new acquaintances. My family is in Wellington so I got to see them too. Also, I had the chance to spend time in a city CBD that is fully operational, unlike my current home city, which is still full of rubble, empty lots, and construction sites after the 2010/11 earthquakes. It was great! But I was so tired when I returned home. And then I received a new doll that I had ordered, so of course I had to make her some clothes and do her face-up. I was all set to finish the chapter and then … Orlando. I found the news of the massacre very upsetting, and couldn't concentrate on anything else for a while. My heart goes out to everyone affected by the shooting.**


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

 **Author's Note:**  
 _ **Skip Beat!**_ **and its characters belong to the creator Nakamura Yoshiki.**

 _ **Skip Beat!**_ **is serialised in 'Hana to Yume' magazine (Hakusensha) and licensed in English by 'Shojo Beat' (VIZ Media, LLC).**

 **The work below is written in the spirit of fan appreciation.**  
 **UK English has been used throughout.**

* * *

Saturday afternoon was a lot of fun. Kyouko met Chiori-san at the Hachikou statue by Shibuya Station. Then they found an ice cream parlour to sit and talk in. Chiori-san showed Kyouko the messages she had received on Twitter and ranted about the rudeness of the person who sent them. Kyouko was inclined to agree. _How rude. I hope we don't get messages like this on our YouTube channel. I can take it, but I wouldn't want Maria-chan to see anything like this._

Despite the reason for their meeting, it was great to spend time with her friend like a normal teenage girl. Yet again, Kyouko found herself feeling grateful for everything she had gained since joining LME. She reminded herself that someday she should make sure to give Sawara-san proper thanks for giving her a chance.

All too soon, Kyouko had to return to Darumaya to help out with the busy Saturday night crowd. Then she spent all of Sunday catching up with her school work and assignments before getting an early night so that she would be fresh and ready for work on Monday. She had to be at the studio very early so that they could spend extra time making sure her makeup was appropriate for her character. By 9am on Monday morning, Kyouko stood in her dressing room taking her first look at Takamatsu Tomoe in the mirror.

The sides of her hair had been clipped up to show the black under layer that had been dyed the other week. She had kept forgetting the darker layer was there as soon as she learned to comb her chestnut hair over it to hide the bold two-tone dye job. There was no forgetting about it now. Her fringe wasn't clipped up, though: it hung down in front of her eyes, which would be very handy for conveying Tomoe's particular character. She'd been given dark eyeliner like she used to wear when playing Setsuka Heel, but only lipgloss, not a bright lipstick.

The outfit comprised a t-shirt material crop-sleeved purple hoodie over a black tank top and blue denim shorts. Her legs were mostly bare, except for black ankle socks. Most likely the full outfit would include bright street shoes or something similar, but the scene she would be filming that day took place inside the Takamatsu household, so she was wearing house slippers instead. All in all, it was a very summery look. Thankfully, the costume manager had left the heater on in her dressing room because it was not a particularly warm morning and she would have been cold otherwise. There would be a few days like this: the drama was supposed to take place over a few weeks in the hottest part of summer, but they were filming it ahead of season, and so they would be pretending that the weather was warmer than it really was for most of the shooting.

Kyouko stepped out into the cooler hallway and headed towards the stage. Two sets had been built side by side on the stage: several rooms of the Takamatsu household, and the open-plan living area of the Ooshima household, where Tsuruga-san's and Kanae-san's characters lived. Most other settings were on location in Zushi.

"Good morning, Kyouko-san," said the producer Kobayashi-san. "Would you like to come and see your character's bedroom?"

Kyouko bowed. "Good morning, Kobayashi-san. Yes, please." She followed the older woman onto the stage, which she was glad to discover was being heated thoroughly by the stage lights. They passed through a living room, along a hallway, and into a bedroom. Well, half a bedroom. From the doorway it would look like a real room, so a camera could be set up in the hallway. But once Kyouko stepped inside, she found that the room only had three walls so that a camera could be set up 'inside' the room as well.

Otherwise, it was a very detailed teenage girl's bedroom. It wasn't to Kyouko's personal taste, but it suited her impression of what the director wanted of Tomoe very well. The walls were cream, but the curtains were dark purple. The bedspread was black and covered with red cherries. Nail polish bottles in garish hues and a variety of makeup bristled on the dresser. There was a large whale plushie lying over a hot pink blow-up chair in one corner, and some items of clothing had been thrown on the floor. It was a great set, apart from one detail: There was a poster of Shoutarou on the wall.

"What do you think?" asked Kobayashi-san.

"It's great," said Kyouko. "Thank you for showing me. I have an even better idea of how to play Tomoe now. Um, I do have one concern, though."

"Oh?"

Kyouko gestured at the poster. "I don't think Tomoe would be a Fuwa Shou fan. I think her musical tastes would be more towards bands rather than idols. Is there another poster that could be put on the wall?"

Kobayashi-san raised her eyebrows. "Good thinking, Kyouko-san. I think you're right! We received many posters for placement advertising. Some will be used here on the stage and some will be put up in locations. This one could always go up in a location, or perhaps in Rina's room. Let's take a look at the other options, shall we? Wait here a moment." She hurried away.

While she waited, Kyouko tried to get a feel for the bedroom to learn more about her character. She inspected the items on the dresser, looked at the prep school books on the desk, ran her fingers over the whale plushie, sat on the edge of the bed. _I am Takamatsu Tomoe and this is my room,_ she thought. _These are my things. This is my safe haven from the world._

Kobayashi-san returned carrying a large poster tube and with the director on her heels. Kyouko stood and bowed. "Good morning, Mifune-kantoku," she said.

"Good morning. Are you getting a feel for your character?"

"Yes. I feel very fortunate to be able to see my character's room before I start portraying her."

"That's great. Good job. Kobayashi-san told me you raised a good point about Fuwa's poster not suiting your character. I agree, even though I'm aware you probably have personal reasons for thinking so as well."

Kyouko coloured. "I'm sorry for selfishly pushing my personal ideas on the set design. If this is the poster that has been chosen—"

The director held his hand up. "It's OK, Kyouko-san. We agree with you. And after last Monday, I don't blame you, either. Let's choose another one."

Kobayashi-san took the cap off the poster tube and shook out a curl of posters. Kyouko watched as she sorted through them, holding up one after another. "Tell me if any look right," said Kobayashi-san.

There were posters for several idols and groups, none of which seemed Tomoe's type. Then Kobayashi-san uncovered a few movie posters, all of movies that weren't out yet but which would be out during the drama's run. "Oh! How about that one!" said Kyouko as she pointed to a dark poster, her heart thumping.

Kobayashi-san held up the poster Kyouko had pointed out, and Mifune-kantoku snorted. It was a poster for _Tragic Marker_. It was dark and moody, with a large picture of BJ on it and the movie title written over the top. Tsuruga-san's face was hidden in the darkness of BJ's hood — only creepy, glowing eyes showed.

"Good idea," said Mifune-kantoku. "I think Tomoe would be a fan of horror movies."

"Oh!" said Kobayashi-san. "Isn't this the movie that Murasame-san is starring in? This is a great choice! Luckily he himself isn't on the poster. It wouldn't work if he was, because having an actor who is in the drama on a poster on the wall would seem weird."

Kyouko caught Mifune-kantoku's eye; she remembered that he had heard about Tsuruga-san's role in _Tragic Marker_ from Konoe-kantoku. He winked at her, revelling in the secret they both held.

"Do you know who this guy is?" asked Kobayashi-san as she held the poster up before her. "He's super creepy."

"The villain of the movie, I think?" said Kyouko.

"I mean, who plays him?"

"I heard he's a foreigner," said Mifune-kantoku.

"Hm, interesting."

After they had switched the posters over and Kobayashi-san had put all the spares back in the poster tube, they stepped off the set and went to where the crew were gathering. Watanabe-san had arrived, as had Naomi-san.

Kyouko went to greet her fellow actresses. "Good morning," she said as she bowed.

"Good morning, Kyouko-san," said Watanabe-san. She looked much like she usually did, except she was wearing heavier makeup for the studio lights.

"'Morning," said Naomi-san. She looked quite different than normal, more feminine and demure. She wore a floral skirt and a white t-shirt, and her hair had been swept back with a red headband. Kyouko was also surprised to see the woman's real eye colour for the first time. She had removed her blue contacts to reveal eyes of a similar pale gold-brown as Kyouko's own eyes. Since they were also a similar height and weight, it suddenly made sense to Kyouko why she had been cast as the younger sister of Naomi-san's character.

"You look cute," said Naomi-san. "Very different from your normal look. I didn't recognise you at first."

Kyouko smiled. "You look very cute too."

Naomi-san grinned. "It's almost like we've swapped aesthetics, huh? I'd be more likely to wear your costume in my real life, and I'm sure you'd be more likely to wear mine."

"Probably, yes."

"Please gather round, everyone!" called Mifune-kantoku. He waited a moment for the cast and crew who were present to form a semi-circle around him. "Welcome to the first day of filming for _Aozora no Yume_ ," he said. "Thank you all for being here to help me bring this story to life. I'm sure you're all well prepared for the work ahead, but I'd like to make a few more remarks about my hopes for this filming." He paused and looked around to make sure he had everyone's attention. "I'd like this to be a supportive working environment for everyone. I want us to work together to create this show, and I'd like all the drama to be on camera, not behind the scenes. That being said, I'd like us all to hold one another to high standards and to give each other constructive feedback. Please don't be upset if I seem harsh. I'm sure you can all take any feedback I give and improve your work. We wouldn't have hired you if we didn't think you were capable."

Kyouko bit her lip. She supposed that meant that the director might be strict on set. But that was a good thing, right? He would keep pushing her until she had given an excellent performance. That's exactly what she wanted.

"Let's get started, shall we?" said the director. Cast and crew alike bowed and took their places.

Kyouko's heart thumped in her chest. This was it! Time to see if she had discovered her character.

* * *

Shou took a long drink of his soda. He sat across a low table from his new manager Sasaki. They were discussing the next phase of his career: cracking the Singaporean market. As soon as he made a name for himself in Singapore, the entirety of Asia would be at his feet, because what's popular in Singapore is popular across the continent. Also, he would then have a body of English-language songs that could be released on the American market if the opportunity arose. Shouko had put the plan into action, and now Sasaki had taken over its application. Shou couldn't wait.

Plus he could do with the money from the commercial endorsement he had lined up to go with the release of his music there. His rent was due soon.

"I've received the report from my contact in the Singaporean music industry," said Sasaki as he handed Shou a sheaf of papers. "He mostly likes the song you drafted for the Singaporean charts, but he has a few recommendations for the lyrics: a few grammar changes to the English, and a few recommendations of what phrases and themes would resonate with the local youth."

"That's great. I'll get to work on the changes tonight."

Sasaki smiled at Shou. "Good job. We got off to a shaky start, but if we keep up this sort of pace, within a few years you won't just be a star: you'll be a megastar."

Shou leaned back in the chair and folded his arms behind his head. "Sure will."

The door of the meeting room creaked open and a small bundle of fury and jiggling cleavage stormed into the room. "Shou-chan, is it true?"

Shou looked up at Mimori's pouting face. "Is what true, Pocchi?" he said. "And by the way, you're interrupting our meeting."

Mimori stomped her foot. "Someone said that you went to see _her_ last week and made a fool of yourself for her sake. Again. Mimori doesn't want Shou-chan to get involved with that demon lady again. She's bad for you!"

Shou blinked. Before, he would have been sure whom Mimori referred to, but now he had two options. "Do you mean Shouko or Kyouko?"

" _Her_. In my _class._ The demon lady."

Shou snorted. He wondered what Kyouko would think about being referred to as the 'demon lady'.

"You did go to see her, didn't you?" she demanded.

"Nanokura-san, please," said Sasaki. "We're in the middle of a meeting. Could you discuss your personal issues with Fuwa-kun later?"

Mimori ignored the man. "Shou-chan," she said, kneeling by his side and placing her hands on his knee. "You're better than that talentless, friendless wannabe. Why should you even think about her at all? She's nothing. Think about me, Shou-chan."

Shou brushed Mimori's hands away. "Don't disrespect her! That's my childhood friend you're talking about!"

Mimori shied away from him as if he had hit her. "You say mean things about her all the time!"

"That's between me and her! But you can't call her a talentless wannabe! She's the one who made you act properly in my PV. You wouldn't have been able to do it without her. Now, go away. We're busy. I'll see you tomorrow."

Mimori stood. Angry red blotches covered her cheeks. She stormed out of the office. He expected her to slam the door behind her, but she surprised him by leaving quietly. She didn't even close the door fully.

"Sorry about that," he said to Sasaki. "Where were we?"

"I was about to relay the plans for the commercial endorsement. We've lined up a soft drink company that is eager to work with you. They will be flying you out to Singapore for two days later in the week and putting you up at the Marina Bay Sands while you film a commercial and do a photo shoot for them."

 _That sounds luxurious!_ thought Shou. _Finally I'm getting the treatment I deserve!_

* * *

OverheardAtLME 2d  
"Success is the best revenge."

* * *

 **Next time: The first day of filming continues.**

* * *

 **Haha, surprise Shoutarou scene. By surprise, I mean it was a surprise to me. I knew this would be happening, but I didn't expect that it would be happening on the same day that Kyouko started her drama. Shou started jumping up and down in my subconscious, demanding screen time. Typical.**

 **I doubt that I'll be able to post a chapter next week. I'm going to be very busy with many things, and alas I don't think I'll have time for fanfic.**


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

 **Author's Note:**  
 _ **Skip Beat!**_ **and its characters belong to the creator Nakamura Yoshiki.**

 _ **Skip Beat!**_ **is serialised in 'Hana to Yume' magazine (Hakusensha) and licensed in English by 'Shojo Beat' (VIZ Media, LLC).**

 **The work below is written in the spirit of fan appreciation.**  
 **UK English has been used throughout.**

* * *

Kyouko watched from just off-stage as Watanabe-san and Naomi-san acted out a tense scene between their characters. Kyouko felt the mother-daughter tension deep within her soul: somehow it felt similar to the conversation she'd had with her own mother about running away to Tokyo with Shoutarou and then being thrown away by him. The tension in Naomi-san's shoulders as she explained, as Rina, about her breakup with her boyfriend was similar to how Kyouko had felt under her mother's scrutiny. But it was Watanabe-san who really shone. She played a very different mother from Kyouko's own, and behaved superficially very supportive. But that undercurrent of judgement and chagrin at the situation her daughter had gotten herself into, that was very real. So very real. Kyouko shook her head to clear her distraction: she needed her wits about her because she had to step onto the set and join the scene in a moment.

She had a brief reprieve when the director called "Cut!" He walked to the edge of the stage and beckoned Naomi-san over. "You've got the basics down," he said, "but there's still something missing. You're not portraying Rina as broken as she ought to be. She's not just sad and grieving about the end of her relationship. It wasn't a civil break-up. It was a disaster in her world, OK?"

Naomi-san gave a small bow. "I understand."

"I want her to be broken, I want her to be angry, I want her to be crazy and tearing at her own insides trying to figure out who she is now that she doesn't have that relationship. Even though she's trying to be calm in front of her mother now, I want some of that to leak through."

"I'll do my best, director." Naomi-san stepped back into place and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and shook her shoulders then opened her eyes again.

They started the scene from the top. There was something subtly different in Naomi-san's performance – she was more raw, less controlled. It reminded Kyouko of something, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Besides, she needed to concentrate on her own performance.

They were rapidly reaching her cue. Kyouko's heart thudded. She'd thought this performance over many times, and she knew what she wanted to try, even though she also knew what it would cost her. She remembered Shoutarou at his lazy, introspective moments and tried to emulate some of that restless languidity. Her teeth clenched, but she made them relax. Acting like him wouldn't bring him here. She was just making use of a tool available to her, that's all. Besides, there was more to her Tomoe than Shoutarou. There was also her 'Don't look at the real me' complex, which certainly had nothing to do with that attention-seeking buffoon.

They reached her cue, and Kyouko shuffled into the kitchen area and muttered, "Morning."

"Good morning, Tomoe. Breakfast is on the table," said Watanabe-san, before continuing the conversation with Naomi-san.

Kyouko went to the coffee machine and poured a cup, yawning as she did so. She stood at the bench in the stance that she'd practiced in front of the mirror.

She was about to take the cup of coffee to the table when the director called, "Cut!"

Kyouko sighed. _I suppose it was too much to hope that I'd get it right first time._ She walked over to the edge of the stage to meet the director.

"OK, Kyouko-san, what you just did does work well for Tomoe, but it doesn't work for the current setting. Do you see what I mean?"

Kyouko shook her head. "I'm sorry, director, but I don't."

"The way you portrayed Tomoe just now will work well when she is outside her family house, at her part-time job, for example. But she's at home at the moment."

Kyouko blinked. "I'm sorry director, I still don't quite understand." She bowed deeply.

"Well, how do you act at home, and how does that differ from when you're not at home?"

"I don't think I act differently at home. I'm very sorry to be an inconvenience."

Naomi-san stepped over to join them. "You're this polite and old-fashioned at home too?"

Kyouko blushed. "I guess …" That's what Naomi-san thought of her, huh?

"You don't loosen up around your family?" asked the director.

Kyouko felt colour drain out of her face.

Mifune-kantoku looked closely at her expression, and a sad look crossed his features. Then he looked thoughtful. Perhaps he was remembering when he had met her mother to get her permission for the filming. "I see," he said. "Well, this is Tomoe's safe haven, OK? She's more comfortable here in her home than anywhere else. Here she doesn't deflect attention, OK?"

Kyouko nodded. It did make sense, now that it was described to her. She supposed it was like how she was with Mouko-san. Or how she'd been with Corn both when she was a child and in Guam. Kyouko didn't have a place like that, but she had people. For Tomoe, she supposed the place and the people both counted.

Kyouko bowed. "I think I understand, director. Thank you for explaining it to me."

"OK, from Tomoe's cue, people."

Kyouko took a breath.

"You OK?" asked Naomi-san as she passed her on the way back to her place.

Kyouko smiled at her. "Yes, I'm fine." And she was. When she'd been immediately pulled up for the wrong tone in _Box-R_ , she'd been a bit upset about it. But her performance had improved so much after that. Surely any feedback she got about Tomoe would have a similar effect. Kyouko grinned to herself as she stepped off-stage to wait for her cue. She very nearly had Tomoe now! She could feel it!

At her cue, she walked onto the stage again. This time, she altered her stance so that she wasn't shrinking inwards as much as before. She kept the languidity and the early morning sleepiness. "Morning," she muttered, briefly meeting Naomi-san's and Watanabe-san's eyes before heading to the coffee machine.

"Good morning, Tomoe. Breakfast is on the table."

This time, the scene continued. Kyouko plopped into a chair at the dining table, took a long swig of the 'hot' coffee (it was actually flat cola, but it looked like coffee on camera), and began eating the meal that had been laid out for her character. She employed the tricks she'd learned at the acting school to make it look like she was eating at a normal pace even though she was eating very little.

Even though she was only part of the scenery behind the real scene, the mother/daughter argument, Kyouko did her best. She had seen scenes on TV where the people in the background were not putting enough effort into their acting and it always ruined the show for her.

"Really, I'm fine," said Naomi-san. "You'll be late to work if you don't leave soon. We'll clean up here."

Watanabe-san looked at the watch that was a part of her costume. "Goodness me. See you tonight, girls!"

As she left the stage, Naomi-san displayed a complicated look on her face that would leave the viewer in no doubt that her character had lied: she wasn't fine. Kyouko looked carefully at that expression, and showed worry. "Hey, Nee-chan. Wanna come for a walk on the beach this morning?"

Naomi-san gave her a thoughtful look. "Yeah. That sounds nice, I guess. It's a nice day." She looked out the window and sighed before walking to the kitchen and gathering dishes by the sink.

"And, cut!" cried the director. "Good job. That's much more like I was envisioning. I'd like one more in the can, though, just in case. Starting positions, please!"

Kyouko put her chopsticks down. A stagehand ran over to reposition her food to look like a full meal while she stepped off stage to wait for her cue again.

* * *

"There you are, Ren-san," said the makeup assistant. "All done." She smiled at him in the mirror. "Uh, is there anything else I can do for you?"

"No, thank you, I'm fine." He wasn't quite sure what else she could do. His stage makeup was all in place. He only needed to wait for his call.

The costume manager grabbed the younger woman's arm and pulled her out of the room. "We'll leave you in peace, then, Tsuruga-san."

"Thank you for your help." As they closed his door, it looked like the older woman was chastising the younger one. He supposed that perhaps the makeup assistant had been hitting on him. He hadn't really noticed because she was doing a good job, and that's all that really mattered to him at the time.

Finally alone, Ren sighed and looked at his new character in the mirror. He hoped he'd hidden the roiling stomach well. As Kazufumi had taken form he had become more and more uneasy. Even when he had seen the character design sheet, he hadn't twigged what would happen. Somehow, somehow, over the last half hour the costume manager and makeup assistant had abraded the Ren mask away until who looked back at him in the mirror was at least half Kuon.

Ren stood and leaned closer to the mirror, then stepped back to get an all-over view. What was it that had made the change? His hair was still dyed brown; he still wore the brown contacts. The clothes he wore were nothing like he'd ever worn in America: they were a very Japan-specific look, far more Japanese than he usually was. It wasn't even his hairstyle. They'd messed his hair up and restrained it with a hair slide. He looked like a stereotypical small town Japanese guy dressed down for manual labour in the summer heat.

Maybe it was simply how casual he looked. After all, 'Ren' usually wore high fashion clothes. He'd been more casual in his youth, even with Julie Hizuri in charge of his wardrobe. His mother had let him wear the sporty, outdoorsy clothes he'd wanted, even if those clothes were from label brands.

Why was he getting so nostalgic today? Although, he supposed that had been happening a lot more often since Guam. Kyouko really had performed magic on him, in a manner of speaking.

"This is OK," he said aloud. "It's OK if I see the old me in the mirror, because no one else knows to look. They'll see Kazufumi."

"What's that, Ren?"

He jumped, then met Yashiro-san's eyes in the mirror. "Nothing. Sorry, I didn't notice you'd come back."

"That's fine. Shall we go out to the set to wait? Kyouko-chan's still filming her first scenes as Tomoe."

"Ah, yes, let's go."

"Oi! There it is again!"

Ren sighed. Yashiro-san had been needling him all day, insisting something was 'off'.

"Did something happen with Kyouko-chan over the weekend?" continued Yashiro-san. "Is that why you're weird and uptight today?" Yashiro-san's face contorted in horror. "What did you do?!"

"What the hell are you imagining, Yashiro-san? Maybe you should take up writing overwrought romances in your spare time. I think you'd be good at it."

"How rude!" said Yashiro-san as Ren pushed past him. "Looking after you takes all of my time!"

Ren ignored his manager and walked out to the set. He stood in the back behind the crew and watched the goings-on over their heads. It was times like this that made him glad he had inherited his parents' height.

Kyouko and Naomi-san were filming a scene in the Takamatsu living room set. His eyes were drawn straight to Kyouko. Her hair had been done in a grunge-type style. Her denim shorts were nearly as short as the leather ones she had worn as Setsu, but the look was quite young and innocent regardless. Perhaps it was the candy-coloured top. Somehow, even though she was showing more skin than usual, her look was less mature than her normal look, like an immature teenager who knew that society wanted her to flash some skin to conform, but who didn't know what the effect of that flashed skin was. It was a good starting point that left plenty of room for character development.

Ren smiled when he saw that Kyouko had come up with an entirely new-to-her body language to use for the character, just like she had done for her _Box-R_ character. He remembered what she had told him the other week when he was giving her a ride: that she would need to use some of her knowledge of Fuwa to create the character. He had been uneasy hearing that, but now that he saw the character brought to life, he could see what she had meant and it wasn't that bad at all. She slouched as she slunk across the stage in a way that reminded Ren of the lazy manner in which Fuwa had sprawled on those seats the first time they had met, when he had kicked the rubbish can over. That day Fuwa had come across as someone who would probably lie on sofas as a matter of course rather than sit on them, and it looked like Takamatsu Tomoe would have the same habit. Ren could live with seeing those behaviours acted out by Kyouko.

All too soon the scene was over and the director called for a lunch break. The actresses stepped off the set. Ren approached Kyouko. Maybe she would forget any awkwardness lingering after their odd phone conversation and insist on eating with him to make sure he ate like she used to while they were filming _Dark Moon_. Then he could apologise properly for making her uncomfortable on Friday night.

"Ah! Tsuruga-san!" she cried when she saw him, not a trace of awkwardness or skittishness in sight. She bowed deeply. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, thank you. I caught some of your acting just now. Your new character is coming together well."

She smiled at him. "Thank you."

He grinned. She was getting much better at handling compliments recently. He wondered who had helped her with that.

Kyouko eyed him up and down. He almost felt embarrassed at the close scrutiny. Then he remembered that he was already in costume. Of course that's what she was looking at. He held out his arms. "What do you think?"

She nodded. "You look very different from the other characters you've played. I think your fans will be surprised. Oh! And you know what, Tsuruga-san? I think this is the first time I've ever seen you looking your age."

"My age?"

"Yes. Well, you usually look older, which is why you get roles like Katsuki, right Yashiro-san?" She looked to his manager, who Ren had almost forgotten was there.

"That's right, Kyouko-chan," said his manager. "I usually get roles for this guy that are much older than he really is because people have a hard time believing him as his own age. When he was 17, there was no way I could get him roles in school dramas. I sent him out for auditions for university dramas instead! It worked a charm!" They both giggled.

"What's different this time?" mused Ren.

"Hm, I think it's the hair?" said Kyouko. "It's often young men who push long hair back with a headband like that."

Ren tapped at the zig-zag-shaped piece of wire, which was already pinching behind his ears. "Huh." He supposed she was right. He also thought perhaps that's why he had seen himself as Kuon in the mirror. Even though he was just one person, the 'Ren' persona was more mature in his mind. So maybe when he saw himself looking younger than usual, that made him feel more like his real self. It made sense in a way.

Kyouko stood in front of him as he thought, twisting her finger in the hem of her hoodie. Her sudden nervousness made him remember what he had wanted to say to her.

"Mogami-san, I want to apologise properly about Friday–"

She threw her hands up. "No need, really! I ought to apologise. In my embarrassment I was accidentally really rude. I'm so sorry."

Rude? When was she rude? Concerned for his wellbeing, yes. "I don't think you were rude. But do you want to go get some lunch so we could talk–"

He was cut off by a figure appearing directly between them. "Oi, Kyouko, remember that the rest of us exist," said the person in the way.

"Mouko-saaaaaaan! You look lovely!" Kyouko threw herself at Kotonami-san, who held up a hand to Kyouko's forehead and kept her at arm's reach.

Kotonami-san looked at Ren over her shoulder. "Sorry, I'm borrowing her. You can have lunch with her another day."

"You want to have lunch with me? Yay!" said Kyouko.

Ren was a bit disappointed, but Kyouko was clearly so happy at the prospect of eating with her friend that it would be mean of him to kick up a fuss. He bowed. "Of course. I'll leave you ladies to it."

Kyouko bowed to him and Yashiro-san. "Please excuse me. I'll see you this afternoon!"

He watched as the two young women, one stoic and one excited, walked out of the studio together.

"You're not upset?" asked Yashiro-san.

Ren looked around to make sure no one was listening to their conversation. "Of course not. She deserves to have lots and lots of close friends, after the childhood she had."

"Yeah, you're right."

* * *

"And then I went back for another scoop, because why not, and I had chocolate fudge. It was nice, but I think the mango sorbet was still my favourite. Are you listening, Mouko-san?" Kyouko peered past the remains of her cafeteria lunch at her friend's phone. Kanae-san was swiping at the screen while Kyouko talked, and Kyouko was a wee bit put out about it.

"Huh? Yeah. I'm just pulling up something I saw over the weekend and thought I should show you."

"Oh, OK. I thought you were mad."

Kanae-san looked up. "Why would I be mad?"

"Because I had ice cream with Chiori-san without you."

"Don't be silly. She's your friend too. And it makes sense she called you for support since the two of you recently finished filming a drama together. Speaking of filming dramas, good job with the scene this morning. It looked good."

Kyouko blushed and rubbed the back of her neck. "Heheh, thank you. But I was just a background character today. Wednesday will be the real test, because I have several scenes to film where I have a lot of lines."

Kanae-san continued scrolling on her phone. "You'll be fine, I'm sure. You've got this. Ah!" She held her phone up in triumph. "Here it is. I was going through the Tumblr blogs that had reblogged my fashion pictures, and when I looked at who had reblogged your picture I found something interesting."

"Someone reblogged _my_ picture?"

"Several people, actually. And look at this."

Kanae-san handed over her phone. It showed what Kyouko assumed must be a Tumblr blog. At the top of the page was a header image of her own face, a promotional picture from _Box-R_. The title below the image was 'LME Kyoko Fans Unite!'

"What is this?" asked Kyouko.

"It's a fansite, dummy. A fansite about you."

"I have a fan?"

"Lots of them, it looks like."

Kyouko felt a dropping sensation in her stomach. There were people out there who were paying particular attention to her career? While she knew that was necessary to become a famous actress, the thought was still daunting.

She scrolled further down the page. The top post was a looping GIF of about 3 seconds of her as Natsu striking a pose and smiling. The caption under the picture said 'Too sexy!' Kyouko blushed. "What, really?"

She scrolled further down. The second post was the photo Kanae-san had taken. The third post had an embedded link to her first cooking video. 'Kyoko's new project! Featuring the equally lovely Momose Itsumi! I hope there will be more videos. I might even learn to cook!'

"Equally lovely?" said Kyouko. "They're exaggerating."

"Remember that a superfan of yours wrote that. Surely that can be interpreted as high praise of Momose-san."

Kyouko blinked. "Can you read this from over there? How good are your eyes?"

"I can see the screenshot. I remember the caption because I read through the first few pages last night. They have lots of screen caps from both _Box-R_ and _Dark Moon._ There are also text posts about their favourite scenes you've acted and their guesses about the kinds of roles you will take on in the future."

Kyouko scrolled further and found one such text post. The blog author had written three long paragraphs about how much they wanted to see Kyouko star in a remake of a Kaji Meiko movie. "Kaji Meiko-sama? Bu-but she's a legend!"

"They're right, though. Imagine if someone wanted to make a new _Female Prisoner Scorpion_ movie, or _Lady Snowblood_. I bet the producer of such a movie would call you in for an audition at least because of your Mio and Natsu."

Kyouko gave her friend a blank look.

"You have seen those movies, right?"

Kyouko shook her head. "They're violent and scary. I'm not old enough for movies like that."

Kanae-san rolled her eyes. "They're classics, and just the sort of thing you ought to watch considering the kinds of roles you get. What's more important: avoiding violent movies, or doing research for your chosen career?"

Kyouko slumped in her seat. "My chosen career."

"That's right."

Kyouko sighed and handed Kanae-san's phone back to her. "It's still weird to see a fansite about me, and such an enthusiastic one at that. I haven't really had any fan attention until now. I'm not sure what to think about it."

Kanae-san swept her hair behind her shoulder, elegant as ever. "Well, I guess it's because your talent page is up on the LME website now. Until now, there wasn't really any information about you out there, so people probably didn't realise you were the same person."

"I know they didn't."

"But now when someone looks to see what the actress who played Mio has done since then, they find your page and see that you played Natsu too, and some of those people will be so impressed about the change that they become your fans."

"I guess. I thought my changing appearance would hinder me gaining fans."

"It will throw some people off, but not others. And as for what you can think about the fan site," Kanae-san continued as she leant forward over the table and gave Kyouko a keen look, "how about acknowledging that there are people out there who like your looks? Take some confidence from it."

"But, Mouko-san!"

"Don't 'But, Mouko-san' me. This is a hurdle you need to overcome if you want to get further in your career. How about getting over it already? Your looks are good enough for an actress, especially when you have professional makeup on. They're good enough to make people think you're cute or sexy. Deal with it, and get back to levelling up your acting. How can you beat me if you don't have confidence in your looks?"

Kyouko froze. _This is a hurdle? One I need to overcome to catch up to Mouko-san?_ She balled her fists. "OK! I can do it! I won't get left behind!"

"Good. Now, let's get back to the studio. Lunch is nearly over."

"Let's go!"

Kyouko grinned as she walked back to the studio. Her friend had clearly taken her aside to give her a pep talk about her fans and her career. Unable to hold back her enthusiasm, she grabbed hold of Kanae-san's arm. "You're the best friend ever!" she cried. "You care so much about me! I'm so touched!"

"Mou, don't make such a fuss! Everyone's staring at us!"

* * *

OverheardAtLME 2h  
Thank you to everyone who sent me kind messages over the weekend!

OverheardAtLME 2h  
There's a note on the contact page of LME's website now about this Twitter account

OverheardAtLME 2h  
There's also a list of other LME affiliated social media pages.

OverheardAtLME 2h  
Thank you for your support! Normal service will now resume.

* * *

 **Next time: The first on-location filming day.**

* * *

 **Well, hello. Hi. I suppose many of you thought I dropped this story and are surprised to see a new chapter. So, something rather unexpected happened. First of all, the very busy period at work that I mentioned last time hit even harder then expected. Then just as that was clearing and I started writing again, I was ambushed by a surprise health emergency. The kind that requires emergency surgery :( So, yeah, that was a thing that had to take priority over fanfiction, and everything else in my life too. Even after my incisions had healed well enough that I could sit at a computer again, it took me a long time to get back into the right headspace for creativity. I'm fine now, though.**

 **So, who has read the new chapter? [Spoilers follow.]**

 **Nakamura-sensei is clearly setting up a complicated story arc. It was interesting to see Yashiro and Kyouko interacting without Ren present. Also, I'm really keen to see what Ren will give Kyouko as a belated White Day gift, as I'm sure everyone else is too. And I wonder what Ren said to Yashiro in the car that made him decide it was OK to go ahead and give her his gift. Maybe he said he wanted to give his present to her last, since she gave him his present last on Valentine's Day? If so, he probably got all manipulative again and tried to claim that Yashiro was the one holding him up, hence Yashiro's aghast expression. Sigh.**

 **Ah, hurry up, 20 October. I want to see what happens next. More martial arts training, I guess. It's great to see Nakamura-sensei getting back to her action roots. After all those years drawing Tokyo Crazy Paradise, her fight scenes are so much better than the usual Shoujo manga fare! *Swoons***


End file.
